


Prophecy of Nine

by ourheartsofsteel



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Book 3: The Mark of Athena, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-10-11 12:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10465092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourheartsofsteel/pseuds/ourheartsofsteel
Summary: Coincides with Mark of Athena. After a 'mishap' at the Roman Camp, Camp Half Blood is left protecting it's borders from an inevitable war. During his patrol, Leo Valdez encounters a girl named Andrey who claims to be Percy Jackson's sister. It's then revealed that Andrey - along with another Greek demigod - are destined to be apart of the Prophecy of Nine.





	1. CHAPTER I - LEO

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Prophecy of Nine](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/279747) by Me lol. 



> Hi guys, this work is already published (by me) on fanfic but I prefer ao3. If I forget to update, let me know! The first 6 chapters are already done, so I'll post them in the next couple of days. Later!!

It was a warm, summer night on Long Island. Leo Valdez stood at the top of the hill of the valley that hid Camp Half-blood, a summer camp that trained Demigods of Greek gods how to survive their never-ending battle with the monsters of Tartarus.  
These days, everyone was in their respectable cabins by ten, except for the few demigods that guarded the outside of the camp. You see, just a few days ago, Leo came in a trireme named the Argo II - which he had built, by the way - with six other demigods. They had barely escaped another demigod camp, which was Roman, because Leo had went crazy and fired the ship's ballistaes on the Romans. And because of this weird misunderstanding, they had a very angry army of Roman demigods after them, which meant that they had to keep their guard up.  
Hence the reason why Leo was standing at the top of the hill, aimlessly looking across the countryside. Most nights were like this, and nothing had happened in the past two days. But Chiron, the centaur camp director (yes, a centaur), was sure that the Roman army would be on its way soon, and that the camp needed protection. He forgot to mention, however, that the actual protecting of the camp boarders was extremely and utterly boring.  
At least that's what Leo thought. Until this one particular night, when Leo heard the screeching of furies. At first, Leo just thought he was imagining things. Until he realized that the screeching was real and coming from right outside the camp boarders, from the line of trees that were right at the base of the hill he was standing on. Leo turned to the sound just when a figure broke through the line of trees and started sprinting up the hill, with two furies flying low behind them. Leo stood where he was, unable to move. The figure trudged up the hill, and as the figure got closer, Leo realized that the figure was a her. And her face was screwed up tight in a look of determination. Suddenly, the girl slammed into him, which got his body working again.  
'What the name of Zeus are you doing just standing there?' She shouted angrily. 'Do you just stand there when furies are chasing after you?' Leo spluttered. The girl groaned. 'Could you move, please? You're kind of in my way.' She started side stepping Leo until he caught her by the shoulder.  
'Where are you going?' He asked. The girl rolled her eyes.  
'Where do you think? Into the camp. I need to talk to one of the demigods.' Leo looked at her with suspicion, the furies still hanging out just outside the boarder, screeching loudly. He kept his grip on her shoulder. The whole situation seemed a little strange: sure, some demigods were found occasionally these days - but they were always with a guardian. And she was alone, looking at Leo with a look of anger, talking about the camp, which mortals weren't supposed to be able to see.  
'Look, just tell me who you want to talk to.'  
'I don't have any time! I need to speak to him now!' She exclaimed, and tried to pry Leo's hand away from her shoulder. He tightened his grip.  
'Who?' She looked up into Leo's face; her eyes seemed to almost burn with anger. Normally, he would've thought they were beautiful: they were a greenish-grey, almost like the colour of the sea during a storm. But at the moment, Leo was so focused on prying information out of the girl to notice. Much.  
'Just. Let. Me. Go!' She said loudly, and she managed to pry Leo's hand off of her, and shoved him to get him out of her way. She started storming off, but before Leo could do anything, she collapsed. Leo scrambled up and sprinted to her. He tried to help her stand, until he realized that her backpack was soaked in something. When he looked closer, he saw that it was a deep red. He ripped off her backpack, to find that the back of her shirt had been shredded, along with most of her back. She was extremely pale, and her face glistened with sweat. Leo pulled her head into his lap, trying to keep her from going unconscious.  
'I think I'm hurt.' She said, and laughed, which came out like a croak. 'I need to see P-percy Jackson.'  
'Why?' Leo asked, and he almost kicked himself. Why would you ask her that?  
'B-because.' She said weakly. 'He's my brother.' Her eyes flickered shut. Leo was caught in a moment of disbelief. Then he started yelling.  
'Percy! Someone get Percy!' He saw one of the others that were standing watch rush over, another running down to the Big House, presumably getting Chiron. The figure from another side of the boarder rushed over, and Leo saw that it was Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon.  
'What? What's wrong?' Percy asked, once he was close enough.  
'This girl. She came running from the trees, two furies following her. She said that she wanted to talk to you, because she's your… sister.' Percy looked at him with confusion, and rushed over, kneeling next to the girl who claimed to be his sister. He saw Percy's body tense.  
'Oh my god.' He said, and he looked up. 'We need to get her to the infirmary. Now.' Leo wanted to ask if they could really trust her, but Percy's hard expression made him stop. Percy believed her. He believed that this girl was his sister.  
'Okay.' Leo said, just as Chiron rushed over, Annabeth Chase on his heels (or hooves, which ever you prefer).  
Chiron looked between the two boys, his eyes resting on Leo. 'What happened?' Leo explained everything, Chiron nodding at a few points, Annabeth gasping when Leo said that the girl believed that she was Percy's sister.  
'I believe her.' Percy chimed in, and Chiron looked at Percy. 'I've… seen her before.'  
'What?' Annabeth exclaimed, a slight hint of disbelief in her voice, probably because she was surprised that her boyfriend hadn't told her that he had met his sister.  
'Not personally.' Percy explained. 'I've seen her in some of my dreams. She also-' Percy glanced at the girl, '-looks a lot like my mom.' The other three took time to register this. Chiron nodded.  
'I would have to agree. Also, if Percy trusts that she is telling the truth, then I believe her as well.' Annabeth nodded.  
'We have no time to waste.' Annabeth said, 'we have to get her to the infirmary before she bleeds to death.' Percy turned to his sister, a look of deep concern in his eyes.  
'Firstly, Percy, you have to get the members of the Senior Counsel.' Chiron said, and Percy started to protest. 'We have to tell them about her. Annabeth, you should come as well. Leo, why don't you take this girl to the infirmary? Percy will come once we wake up the others.' Leo was about to protest, because he was positive that he wouldn't be able to carry her. But, as Leo looked up at Percy's face etched with worry, he nodded.  
Percy looked at his sister, then at Leo. 'Be careful with her.' He said, his sea green eyes filled with concern. Leo just nodded.  
At that, the three walked quickly down to the cabins, going to wake up the other members of the Senior Counsels of Camp Half-blood, which was made up of all the cabin leaders. Leo, being the leader of the Hephaestus cabin after the previous one had stepped down, was apart of the Senior Counsel.  
Leo quickly scooped the girl up, and walked as quickly as he could (without dropping the girl) to the Big House. Once he got through the door, almost the whole cabin of Apollo swarmed him and the girl, taking her from him and setting her down on one of the beds in the infirmary, checking her wounds. Leo stood there, helpless, watching them bandage up Percy's sister and force-feeding her ambrosia to help her healing process. The cabin leader, Will Solace, rushed into the room, and began attempting to heal the girl's wounds.  
After about twenty minutes, the panic died out, and once Will was certain that the girl was okay, they all went out of the Big House, probably to sleep. Leo entered the room and pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed.  
Leo looked the girl over, and realized how pretty she was. She had jet-black hair, similar to Percy's. There were freckles dotting across her arms, shoulders, cheeks and nose. She seemed delicate, but Leo could tell that she was strong by the toned look of her arms. She had a heart-shaped face with a pointed chin and defined cheekbones, similar to that of an elf. Her forehead was quite high and her nose was small and somewhat crooked, like it had been broken one too many times. Leo was studying her when Percy came running in, which brought Leo out of his daze. He looked around sheepishly, avoiding looking at both Percy and his sister.  
'How is she? Did they heal her?' Percy asked, and Leo forced himself to turn and look at him.  
'Yeah, the Apollo cabin fixed her up pretty good. They told me that she needed some more nectar once she woke up, which they said shouldn't be in too long.' Percy nodded, and pulled a chair up next to Leo's.  
They sat there for what seemed like an hour, until, finally, the girl's eyes fluttered open. Percy had dozed off, and Leo was playing with some metal scraps from his tool belt. Leo smacked Percy's arm and he woke with a start, looking at his sister. He immediately sat on the edge of his chair, seeming to want to get as close to her as possible.  
'Percy?' The girl groaned. Percy was sitting at the very edge of his chair, looking like he was about to fall off of it.  
'Yeah, it's me.' He said, and a look of relief flashed across her face.  
'Oh, thank the gods I found you. I'm your-'  
'Sister.' Percy finished, and she slid her gaze over to Leo.  
'Yes.' She said, and looked back at Percy. 'My name is Andrey. I have to tell you something. In private.' She said, looking over at Leo. He stood up.  
'It's cool. I'll just wait outside.' Percy smiled at Leo gratefully.  
'Annabeth should be here soon.' Leo nodded, walked out the door, and closed it after him.

Leo waited for what seemed like ages, listening to the murmurs of conversation from the room that Percy and Andrey were in, until he heard footsteps from the other side of the door, and Percy opened it. He looked around, presumably for Annabeth, and focused his eyes on Leo.  
'We have a problem.' He said, and, as if on cue, Annabeth came bounding down the hallway towards the two boys.  
'How is she? Is she awake?' Annabeth looked at Percy. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' She asked quickly.  
'She's awake. But we have a problem. We have to call the Senior Counsel to a meeting, as soon as possible. Andrey's going to sleep, but she'll explain everything later.' Percy turned back into the room and started talking softly to Andrey. Annabeth looked like she was about to barge in there, but she held herself back and sighed.  
Percy came out a while later, looking between Annabeth and Leo. 'She's asleep now, but I don't want to leave her alone. Would one of you mind staying?' He asked.  
'I can.' Leo volunteered, and Percy smiled gratefully.  
'I'll be back as soon as I can. Just… don't let anything happen to her.' He added.  
'Aye, aye, captain.' Percy smirked at Leo as he left with Annabeth. Leo opened the door to the infirmary quietly and sneaked in and turned the chair that was pulled up closer to Andrey sideways so he could watch her and the door. Leo's thoughts wandered off, and he started to think about when he couldn't control himself back on the Argo II. Even with everyone telling him it wasn't his fault, he still had a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach, slightly blaming himself for the quest going awry. Eventually, Leo fell into a deep sleep. 

 

Leo woke up to a crash. His eyes flew open, and he cursed himself for falling asleep. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the scene. The door to the infirmary was open wide, there was shattered pieces of glass and ceramic on the floor from a broken lamp that fell from the nightstand, and there was someone leaning over Andrey's bed, strangling her as Andrey's body thrashed beneath.  
Leo jumped out of his chair and quickly ran over and pulled the attacker off of Andrey, flashes of red overpowering Leo's vision. Leo walked out of the room with the attacker still in his arms, thrashing about like a monster. Leo dropped the attacker in the hallway outside of the infirmary, and, to his surprise, saw Rachel Elizabeth Dare glowering at him from the floor. Except, her usual emerald green eyes were now gold. Leo called Percy's name, hoping that he would some how hear.  
'Move out of the way, demigod. This matter does not concern you.' Rachel said, or at least Leo thought it was Rachel. But she spoke English like it was her second language, as if she was unsure of the correct way to say things.  
'I'm not sure if you've realized, but whenever you try to hurt someone here, it's always everyone's concern. You should know that by now.'  
'Get out of my way, you foolish boy, and let me finish killing the girl.'  
'Let me think about that.' Leo said, tapping his finger on his chin. 'No.' Rachel tried to get up, but Leo pushed her back down. 'Now tell me what's wrong with you. Are you some kind of possessing-monster thing?' Possessed-Rachel hissed at Leo. He backed away a little, guarding the door to the infirmary. Leo gulped and called for Percy again. No answer.  
'I am an Eidolon. And my purpose is to kill Andromeda Jackson.'  
Andromeda? 'Yeah, well I'm Leo Valdez, and my purpose is to stop you from killing Andromeda Jackson. So, if you want to get to her, you gotta go through me.' Eidolon-Rachel laughed manically.  
'You, son of Hephaestus, will never be able to stop me.' And at that, she charged at Leo. He summoned his 3-pound Club Hammer from his tool belt and swung it at Eidolon-Rachel's head, knocking her out.  
'Don't ever underestimate the power of Leo Valdez.'  
'Is it gone?' A voice called from inside the infirmary. Leo turned quickly to see Andrey sitting at the edge of her bed, out of the sheets.  
'Somewhat.' Leo said with a smirk, and Andrey smiled back.  
'Thanks for saving me.'  
'No problem.'  
'But you wouldn't have had to, if you hadn't have fallen asleep.' She said, with a spark of mischief in her eyes. Leo was beginning to like this girl.  
'Well, you were quite boring.' He replied. She smiled.  
'Well being attacked by furies can do that to a person.' Leo was about to retort when Percy came running down the hallway.  
'What's wrong? Why were you calling me?' He said quickly, his eyes darting around, looking like he could kick some serious butt. His eyes found Rachel's body, and his eyes went wide. He made a gasp and darted over to her.  
'Rachel! Rachel! Are you okay?' He said, lightly slapping the sides of her face. Leo tried to hold in a laugh. He could imagine what Percy would have done if Leo started laughing at the sight of his best friend knocked out on the floor. Percy turned quickly to Leo. 'What happened?'  
'Um. I can explain that.' Leo said, and Percy frowned at Leo.  
'Well?' He asked expectantly. Leo started to explain the situation as best as he could, wording it so it didn't sound like Leo had liked pounding Percy's friend's head in with his hammer. He was pretty sure he succeeded, but Leo couldn't tell, because Percy had a steely expression.  
'So let me get this straight. My best friend was possessed by something called a Eidolon, tried to kill my sister, and so you knocked her out cold with your hammer?'  
'Pretty much.' Percy sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.  
'I think the universe hates me.' He said miserably.  
'I'm pretty sure the universe doesn't hate demigods, but smites them for just being too damn awesome.' Percy looked up and smiled.  
'Well I should probably go round up the Senior Counsel.' Percy looked cautiously at the infirmary. 'Bring her safely. And try not to let possessed people strangle her.' Leo smirked and nodded.  
'Will do, captain.' Leo watched Percy go, and then turned back to the infirmary. Andrey was sitting there in bed, wearing shorts that looked like they had been thrown in a dust storm. Leo realized three things then: one, that she wasn't really wearing a shirt, just bandages wrapped around her upper body; two, that she was looking at him before he had turned around; and three, she had noticed him checking her out. Leo quickly adverted his gaze, trying hard not to blush. Andrey cleared her throat.  
'So, um, I don't really have a shirt to wear. Or any clean pants.' Leo forced himself to look up.  
'Um, you could always borrow something from me, and then get some clothes from the Aphrodite cabin after the Senior Counsel meeting. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.'  
'Really? Thanks.' She said with a warm smile. Leo smiled back.  
'Well, wearing my clothes would be a lot better than going out with just bandages.' Andrey blushed.  
'Probably.' They both laughed.  
'Well, why don't we just quickly go to the Hephaestus cabin and grab some clothes, then.'  
'Okay.' She said. Leo pulled her up from her bed, but when Andrey tried to stand, she stumbled. Leo caught her by the waist, and she straightened. She smiled at him apologetically, and put one arm around his neck. Leo guided her to his cabin, praying to any God that it was at least relatively clean.  
The Gods didn't seem to be very merciful that day.

 

When Leo and Andrey got to the Hephaestus cabin, Leo had the sudden urge to pound in his own head in with his hammer. There were tools and metal scraps scattered everywhere throughout the cabin, and clothes strung everywhere up on beds and chairs around the room. Leo sighed. That's what you get for having a cabin almost entirely made out of guys.  
Who were, coincidently, all currently there. Most of them in their underwear. And asleep. Some hanging off their beds. Leo was suddenly glad that the cabin was somewhat dark, because if the light was on, Andrey definitely would've seen the drastic change in Leo's complexion, considering he probably looked like a tomato.  
Except, instead of running away like Leo thought she would, Andrey just stood there and quietly laughed. 'It kinda reminds me of a foster home.' Leo looked at her skeptically.  
'You're not grossed out or anything?' She chuckled.  
'No, not really. It could use some cleaning-' She said, as she stepped over a huge chunk of metal, 'but I've seen worse.'  
Leo laughed. 'You must've lived with some pretty nasty people.'  
'Nah, just teenage boys.' They both laughed. Leo guided her to his bed, and was suddenly very conscious of the fact that his area was horribly messy; and that a girl - especially a pretty one - was in his bedroom (kinda). Except, when he looked at her, she didn't seem grossed out. She looked… interested.  
'Are those blue prints of a dragon?' She asked, her eyes wide in wonder. Leo looked at the source of her wonder, realizing that he had left the Argo II and Festus' blue prints lying sprawled all over his bed before he left to do border patrol.  
'Er yeah. I have a metal dragon that sort of got cut to shreds in King Midas' palace. And it's head is now the masthead of the Argo II, which is the trireme built by the Hephaestus cabin.' Andrey looked at him curiously. 'It's a long story.'  
She picked up a pile of papers from my bed and sat down. 'I have time.' Leo chuckled.  
'I'll tell you later, when there aren't any half-naked guys around us. And you have a shirt on.' Andrey looked down and blushed.  
'That's probably a good idea.' She said sheepishly. Leo walked over to his trunk and tried to sort through his clothes. The problem was, everything was messed up and stuffed into it, so it was impossible to find anything. He heard Andrey walk over, and tried to at least somewhat clean up his trunk. She stopped and stood next to him, taking in the mess. He looked at her, thinking that she'd have a face of disgust on. Except all he saw was Andrey, her eyes darting, filled with curiosity as she scanned the items in his trunk, presumably looking for something to wear. He looked at her in wonder, until she looked up. Leo quickly stared down into his trunk. Andrey looked down a moment later.  
'I think this will do.' She said, as she knelt down and held up one of Leo's shirts, which was a green v-neck. Leo nodded, and she slid it over her head. It hung out from her body, as it was a little too big for her. He looked into her eyes, which were sea green, like they changed colour to match the shirt. Leo realized he was staring and looked away quickly.  
'Er… so. You still need some shorts, right?' Leo asked, scratching the back of his neck.  
'Yeah, but I'm not sure that yours would fit me. You being so big and all.' She said jokingly. Leo looked up and smirked.  
'Or maybe you're just too damn small.' Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth in an O shape. She put her hand over her heart.  
'I am offended.' She said sarcastically. She broke into a smile. 'But seriously, I don't think your fancy Counsel would want me there in dirty, ripped shorts.' Leo chuckled softly and nodded.  
'We can just borrow some from one of my cabin mates, Nyssa. She won't mind.' Leo strode over to Nyssa's trunk, Andrey reluctantly following him. He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. 'Don't worry, if she gets mad, blame it on me.'  
'Okay.' Andrey sighed. Leo opened the trunk and took out some denim shorts, making sure not to mess up the neat order of Nyssa's trunk. He threw them to Andrey. She did a circle with her fingers, motioning him to turn around. Leo rolled his eyes, but followed her orders.  
'Okay let's get this show on the road.' She said, grabbing Leo by the back of his shirt and leading him to the door.

The walk back to the Big House wasn't as eventful as the rest of the night: sense it was still pretty early in the morning, there was barely anybody out anyway. Andrey stopped after a minute of looking around outside the cabin.  
"Um, so where do we go to meet your fancy Counsel again?" She said, turning to Leo. He smirked at her.  
"In that big building over there, in the activity room." Leo replied, and she nodded, and continued leading him there, her hand still on his forearm. They got to the Big House a few minutes after that, succumbed in the silence of the still-sleeping camp. When they walked in, Andrey headed for the door labeled 'Activities Room'.  
They could hear loud voices coming from inside the room, and Andrey looked at Leo and shrugged. When she opened the door, the whole room erupted in silence, everybody looking at Andrey.  
"So this is the girl who's supposed to save us all?" Said Clarisse, the head of the Ares cabin, who was a big, burly girl with brown hair and a permanent look of adversary in her eyes. Leo looked to Percy, who rolled his eyes.  
"I didn't exactly word it like that, Clarisse. Don't be rude."  
"Well, why don't you explain to us exactly how it is that your sister some how found Camp and decided it was a good idea to bring Furies here?" Clarisse retorted angrily.  
"Oh yeah, cause I totally wanted those Furies chasing after me and shredding my back. Cause, you know, I do that kind of shit for fun." Andrey said sarcastically. Clarisse turned to her, with a look of hatred. Percy shot Andrey a warning look, and she just shrugged. The Stoll brothers started chuckling, and Annabeth shot them a look.  
"Clarisse, blaming Andrey for bringing Furies to the camp is totally irrational. Of course she didn't mean to bring them here. Why, for the love of the gods, would she ever do that? Plus, Percy's told me that she has something to tell us. So I think we should listen to her."  
"Me too." Leo agreed, and he could feel Clarisse glaring at him. "I think we need to at least hear her out." Andrey smiled at him.  
"What Andrey told me will seriously change the way we need to go about things. Mostly concerning our quest." Percy said. Everybody turned their attention to Andrey, who shifted uneasily.  
"Well. I know this sounds kind of strange, but a lot of the demigods that I've encountered over the years have said that weird things come into demigod’s dreams. And… you can say that the stuff that comes to me in my dreams are a little more strange." Her eyes darted to Percy, who gave her an encouraging nod. She cleared her throat and continued: "Well. For the past few months, I've been having this dream about a girl, who has a really weird get-up. And trust me, when I say weird, I mean like carnival fortune-teller weird. She had this really weird deep, raspy voice. Anyway. She always tells me that I need to find Percy Jackson and Camp Half-Blood, because my destiny is intertwined with the quest of seven. I obviously had no idea what she meant by the quest, but I had heard from some on-the-run demigods that there was a place for us to hide safely. So I came here, whilst being attacked by Furies, and tada! Here we are." Everybody, including Leo, looked at her in disbelief and wonder.  
"So you're saying that a girl - who sounds a lot like the resident oracle - told you that you had something to do with the quest of seven?" Clarisse demanded. Andrey nodded cautiously. Annabeth sighed.  
"Also. Probably one important detail: I'm absolutely sure that the girl in my dreams, the 'oracle' as you call her, was the one that tried to strangle me in my sleep." With that, the room went into an uproar, with people demanding information (mostly Clarisse) and people asking what in the Zeus Andrey meant by the oracle strangling her.  
"QUIET!" Chiron exclaimed. The room fell silent. "Speak with rational minds. Obviously Rachel would never purposely strangle a demigod in her sleep. At least with out a good reason. I've been informed that Rachel is indeed awake from a certain mishap-" Chiron's eyes darted quickly towards Leo, "so I decided to fetch her and bring her here."  
The girl who was strangling Andrey in her sleep just an hour ago, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, stood before the counsel. She glanced at Andrey, smiling at her. Andrey's body tensed, and Leo’s hand flew to his hammer. But Rachel didn't seem to want to kill Andrey anymore, so they both relaxed.  
"Andrey is right. Despite the strange mishap with her just an hour ago, I did bring her here because she is extremely important to the quest at hand. I got visions just a few months ago, telling me that the quest of seven is, in fact, a quest of nine." The whole room, including Andrey, looked at her in shock. "I got a new prophecy, in addition to the prophecy of seven, stating so."  
"So you're telling me that the prophecy of seven is a prophecy of nine, and you had known this for a few months and didn't tell us? And then brought a girl here because she's one of the additions to the prophecy? And you didn't tell us?" Clarisse exclaimed, but Rachel just looked at her with a smirk on her face.  
"Yes. I obviously couldn't tell you until I got Andrey here, or there would be a huge debate on who got to go, even though the prophecy says different."  
"So what does the addition to the prophecy say?" Annabeth asked.  
"The prophecy states:  
Before there were seven, now there are nine,  
The Prophecy at hand now inclines:  
One, who was met in a dream,  
A daughter of Poseidon now added to the seam:  
Yet this one is not how she seems.  
The curse of Aphrodite leaves a target on her head,  
Leaving one of the nine dead:  
And one, who will bring light upon the quest,  
A Daughter of Apollo who will bring peace upon the rest:  
To achieve the goal of closing the doors of death."  
Everyone sat on the edges of their seats, hanging at Rachel's every word. When she finished, everyone stared at each other in shock, repeatedly glancing at Andrey, trying to interpret the prophecy in their heads, and Andrey's involvement.  
"So, you're saying that you found the daughter of Poseidon, who is cursed by Aphrodite, of all people, but you haven't found one simple Apollo demigod yet?" Clarisse demanded to Rachel.  
"Well, you'd be surprised how hard it is nowadays to find demigods. Especially one that is a pyrokinetic."  
"Pyrofanetic?" Connor Stoll asked. Rachel rolled her eyes.  
"Pyrokinetic. It's the power of controlling fire. Our friend Leo here has it, and it can be possessed by children of both Hephaestus and Apollo."  
"How do you know that the Apollo kid in the prophecy has it?" Connor's twin, Travis, asked.  
"The mention of bringing light upon the quest. I've been thinking about the prophecy for a long time-" Clarisse snorted, presumably about Rachel knowing about the prophecy before-hand, "and I've been able to interpret most of the hidden meanings in the prophecy, except for some minor details." Her eyes darted quickly to Andrey, and then back to the Counsel.  
"That's all fine and good, but can Andrey please explain why the prophecy states that she has a curse of Aphrodite? Cause the Aphrodite cabin would like to be informed.” Asked Piper McNeal, the Aphrodite cabin leader. Leo looked down at Andrey, whose eyes were trained to the ground.  
"Well, it means that I have a curse from Aphrodite on me. No big deal. It doesn't really mean much." She said, all too quickly. Piper looked at her with suspicion.  
"My mom never puts a curse on someone for no reason. And her curses are never a 'no big deal', either. She's mental, but she's my mom." Andrey looked up at Piper, with spite in her eyes.  
"Well then maybe you should ask your mom, cause I'm sure as hell not giving children of Aphrodite my back story." Andrey snapped. Piper didn't give Andrey a look of anger, just suspicion, and sat back down.  
"Fine. All I'm saying is that if it puts one of us in danger, it's on you." A flash of rage crossed Andrey's face, but, for a moment, Leo could've sworn he saw a look of sadness flash in Andrey's eyes.  
"It won't, so keep your thoughts to yourself." Percy cleared his throat.  
"So, is everyone fine with Andrey continuing on as apart of the nine?"  
Everyone slowly nodded, even Clarisse and Piper. "Good. Now all we need to do is find the child of Apollo."  
"Yeah, cause the Daughter of Apollo's just going to fall right out of the sky-" Andrey started sarcastically, and then there was a sudden crash right outside the Big Four, accompanied by a jolt of the house.  
Andrey looked up at Leo with confusion, and the counsel rushed outside to find Apollo's prized possession, his convertible car sun chariot, crashed right into the side of the Big Four.  
A tall girl, with pale skin - which was patched with black marks from soot - and golden blonde hair stumbled out of the car.  
"Holy Zeus." She said, staring at the car and running her right hand through her wild hair, "Dad's gonna kill me!"  
Will Solace, the Apollo cabin leader, looked at the girl with confusion and frustration.  
"No shit Sherlock. That's his favourite car!" The girl turned to him, with anger in her eyes.  
"Well you're not exactly helping by standing there, you dipshit!" The girl yelled at Will, and everybody gasped. Will rolled his eyes.  
"Guys, meet Alina, daughter of Apollo."  
Leo turned to Andrey. "You didn't tell me you were psychic."  
"Oh shut up." Andrey replied, punching him in the arm. Alina stumbled towards the group.  
"Oh my god, you're on fire!" Piper exclaimed, and Alina just looked down to her arm, which was engulfed in flames.  
"Eh, don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt, or burn. It just kind of… sits there." She said, with a smile.  
"Our lives are seriously crazy." Leo muttered, looking down at Andrey. She nodded in agreement.


	2. CHAPTER II - ANDREY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I'll post the third when I have a chance. Happy reading!! :)

Andrey can only remember flashes of her journey over to the Camp. Actually, to tell you the truth, all she really remembers is running.   
She remembers the feel of the wind whipping against her skin, making her hair fly back off her shoulders. She remembers the burning in her lungs; the ache in her legs that slowly turned numb.   
But the thing she remembers most is the screeching of the Furies.   
If someone ever asked Andrey why the Furies were following her, she wouldn’t be able to answer. Because one second, she was in a pick-up that she had hitchhiked, and then suddenly, Furies ripped the top of the cab open and were grabbing for her.   
She could hear screaming coming from the driver, and she opened the side door and leaped out onto the grass landing beside the highway.   
She didn’t have time enough to catch her breath before the Furies were on her trail: so she scrambled up as quickly as she could and ran for her dear life.  
She doesn’t know exactly how long she ran until she saw a figure standing on a hill, which had pine trees scattered everywhere.   
The thing that stood out the most was the lone pine tree at the top of the hill, just like the others had described it.   
Before the Furies could get closer, she trudged up the hill towards the figure.  
When she got to the top, she looked at the figure sternly, expecting them to move. Suddenly, she slammed into the person, taking them completely off guard.   
She backed off, and through her adrenaline rush, she saw a guy, around her age. He was taller than her, enough that he could look down at her.   
She hated when people did that, and she fixed a glare on him. There wasn’t much time, and she really needed to find Percy.  
'What the name of Zeus are you doing just standing there?' Andrey shouted angrily.   
'Do you just stand there when furies are chasing after you?' The boy spluttered. Irritation shot through her like a bullet.   
She groaned. 'Could you move, please? You're kind of in my way.' She tried to side step him, until he caught her by the shoulder, finally finding his voice.  
'Where are you going?' He asked. She rolled her eyes, shooting him a look of frustration.  
'Where do you think? Into the camp. I need to talk to one of the demigods.' He looked at her suspiciously, still keeping his hand on her shoulder.   
'Look, just tell me who you want to talk to.' She made an irritated noise.  
‘I don't have any time! I need to speak to him now!' She yelled, and tried to pry his big, stupid hand away from her shoulder. He tightened his grip.  
'Who?' She looked up into his face, trying to project her anger. He stared into her eyes, just a little longer than necessary. She wanted to back away, but she didn’t want to show weakness to this idiot.  
'Just. Let. Me. Go!' She exclaimed, and she clawed his hands off of her shoulder and shoved him as hard as she could.   
She started storming off, but her legs started to get weak. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her back that she had never felt before: it was as if someone had poured acid all over it.   
Andrey crumpled to the ground and groaned from the pain, shooting its way along her back. She could faintly see the boy scramble up, running to her and kneeling down. He lifted her head, setting it down in his lap. She felt like her brain was going as slowly as possible, like as if someone had put an excessive amount of maple syrup in it.  
‘I think I'm hurt.' She managed to say, and she laughed, but her throat twisted the sound, making it come out like a croak. ‘I need to see P-percy Jackson.'  
'Why?' He asked. She knows she would’ve normally been irritated at such a stupid question, but her back hurt too much to be angry. And his lap was too comfy.  
'B-because.' She said, as the edges of her vision started going blurry. 'He's my brother.'  
And then everything went dark.

 

Andrey slowly opened her eyes, feeling as though someone had glued them shut with super glue.   
She looked around, and she immediately panicked: she had no idea where she was, or why pain shot up her back whenever she moved.   
Her eyes found two people sitting in chairs pulled up to the side of her bed: a boy with messy black hair and tanned skin, who was asleep; and the boy from the hill, who was playing with scraps of metal. The boy from the hill looked up at her, and then smacked the other boy on the chest, waking him up abruptly.   
His sea green eyes darted around, landing on her. She immediately recognized those eyes, because she stares at identical ones in the mirror everyday.  
'Percy?' She groaned. Percy was sitting at the very edge of his chair, looking like he was about to fall off of it.   
'Yeah, it's me.' He said, and relief flowed through her.  
'Oh, thank the gods I found you. I'm your-'  
'Sister.' Percy finished, and Andrey slid her gaze to the boy from the hill.  
'Yes.' She said, and looked back at Percy. ‘My name is Andrey. I have to tell you something. In private.' She looked over at the boy again, and he stood up.  
'It's cool. I'll just wait outside.' Percy smiled at him gratefully.   
'Annabeth should be here soon.' The boy nodded, walked out the door, and closed it after him. Her eyes followed him as he walked out. She turned her gaze back to Percy.  
‘Percy. I know you’ve seen me in your dreams, because I’ve seen you in mine.’ He was about to speak, but she interrupted him.   
‘I’ve also seen other people, and they constantly told me that I needed to find you and Camp Half-Blood. I heard from some on-the-run demigods that there was a place for us to hide safely, and that you’d be there.’   
She chuckled a little. ‘Because apparently you’re some kind of famous demigod or something.’   
He looked at her with fake hurt in his eyes. ‘I thought at least my sister would believe I was famous.’ They both laughed.   
‘But… one question. How are you my sister, and we’re the same age? I mean, you’re seventeen, right?’  
‘Well, there is such a thing called twins, where two babies come out of the same woman on the same day.’ She replied sarcastically. He rolled his eyes.  
‘Yeah, but if you’re my twin, why didn’t we grow up together?’   
Andrey looked down, not wanting to answer.   
‘Where were you for the last seventeen years?’ He asked, in a slightly hurt tone. She looked up, tears threatening to come. She blinked them away quickly.  
‘I don’t really know the whole story, cause I haven’t been able to speak to Mom.’ She said, flinching inwardly at the word.   
The truth was: she was too scared to do anything but to watch their mom from a distance.   
‘But I know that she sent me away when we were little to protect us.’   
Or, at least, that’s what Andrey would like to believe.   
‘And I ended up in foster care.’ She said, in a quiet tone. His face went slack.  
‘Our Mom put you in foster care? Why not me instead?’ She shook her head, unable to answer.   
The truth was, when she found out that Percy existed, she wondered about that every night – why would her Mom ever give her up instead of him? Did she not want her for some reason? Andrey was jealous of Percy for a long time, until she realized that being mad and jealous at him would never fill the hole she had in her heart.   
‘I honestly don’t know. All I know is that she didn’t intend for me to be in foster care, because I was left at a church. But child services came and took me. I was put in foster care, and I stayed there until I was twelve. I ran away when I accidently exploded the sink, which earned me this.’ She lifted her arm and turned it over, exposing a small circle right below the crease in her elbow. Percy’s breath hitched.  
‘They did that to you?’ He said, anger seeping through his words. Andrey shrugged.  
‘Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal.’ He gave her a stern look. She dropped her arm back to her side.   
‘It was a long time ago, and I ran away anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Plus, I was claimed by dad right after that anyway.’ Percy shook his head.  
‘I don’t understand why Mom would’ve done that. She must’ve known how bad it would be.’ He said, confusion in his eyes.   
‘Why wasn’t it me? It should’ve been me.’ He said, looking down. Andrey put her hand on his arm.  
‘Hey, don’t blame yourself. Or Mom. She did what she had to do, and so did I. I survived, and that’s all that matters.’ She smiled at him, and he looked up.  
Suddenly, he shot forward, wrapping her in a hug. Her arms hung limp for a few seconds, like she had somehow forgotten how to hug someone. She lifted them up, wrapping her arms around his neck. She squeezed lightly, feeling a sort of warmth she hadn’t felt since Sam died. He let go first, and she let go slowly, smiling at him as she did so.   
‘I’m glad that you’re here.’ He said.   
‘Why? So you can be a protective brother?’ She replied jokingly.   
‘Ha-ha. No, but seriously. I am.’ She nodded.  
‘I know. Me too.’ He smiled.  
‘So, what was the emergency you needed to talk about?’ He asked.   
Andrey wanted to yell at herself. She couldn’t believe that she got distracted enough to forget why she was here.  
‘Right. So, when I said other people appeared in my dreams, I wasn’t only referring to other demigods, but to other girl. She has ginger-hair, a weird hippy get-up and a really creepy, raspy voice.’ Percy’s eyes went wide.  
‘I know who you’re describing. What did she say to you in your dreams?’  
‘Well, she - along with other people - told me that I needed to find you, because my destiny is intertwined with the Prophecy of Seven.’ Percy’s eyes got bigger, if that were possible.  
‘The Prophecy of Seven?’ He croaked. ‘What about it?’   
‘I don’t know exactly, she just said I was in it somehow.’ He put his head in his hands.   
‘Great. That’s great.’ He groaned.   
‘What? What’s wrong?’ Andrey asked.  
‘We need to tell this to the Senior Counsel.’ She looked at him in confusion.   
‘A Counsel of the cabin leaders.’ She nodded in understanding.   
‘Okay, so I’ll have to tell this to them too?’   
‘Yeah, but you should probably get some sleep first. You look pretty pale.’ He said, worry in his voice.  
‘Sounds good. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.’ She said smiling. He smiled back.  
‘Stay here for a second, I need to find Annabeth.’ She nodded, and he walked out.   
Andrey could hear him talking to the boy from the hill, but their voices were too soft to make out. A minute later, a girl - presumably Annabeth - came running to the door. Annabeth was a tall, with straight, blonde hair and gray eyes. Percy looked back at Andrey quickly, and closed the door.  
Great. Andrey thought. I’m the topic of their conversation, and I can’t even hear what they’re saying. And I can’t get up, cause I feel like shit. She groaned. A few minutes later, Percy walked in.   
‘Okay, I’m going to round up the Counsel and tell them as much as I know before you come in. Just… get better, okay?’ He said, and Andrey nodded. He smiled and walked out.   
She settled herself in her bed, and her back ached as she lay down.   
She was falling asleep just as someone walked in, and through her sleep deprived vision she saw the boy from the hill pull up a chair closer to her bed, looking at her weirdly.   
Before she could say anything, she fell into a deep sleep.

 

Andrey woke up to the sound of the door opening, and when she looked up, all she could see was a figure in the shadows, with red hair and glowing gold eyes.  
The figure walked swiftly towards her.   
Before she could get her body to move, the figure’s hands wrapped around her neck, blocking her windpipe.   
Andrey gagged and gasped, writhing beneath the figure and clawing at their hands.   
She saw a flash of their face under their red mass of hair and recognized the girl immediately: it was the girl from her dreams. Andrey’s eyes widened, and the girl’s grip tightened.   
Andrey let out a gargling scream, trying to wake up the boy from the hill. Andrey kicked the girl in the stomach, her grip loosening for a moment.   
Andrey tried to reach for the lamp beside her, but it fell, making a loud crash. Then the girl was on Andrey again, her grip tighter than before.   
Andrey’s vision was starting to blur when a hand grabbed the girl by the back of her shirt, hauling her off of Andrey.   
Once the girl was off of Andrey, Andrey gasped for air, breathing in and out quickly, trying to fight off the urge to gag. She coughed and spluttered, putting one arm to her chest and another to her throat, trying to slow her breathing. She could hear crashes outside, and loud voices, but her ears didn’t register them. She was too busy focusing on slowing her breaths and getting as much oxygen into her body as possible.   
She looked to the doorframe just as the boy from the hill drew out a massive hammer from his belt and pounded the girl in the face, knocking her out. Andrey would’ve laughed if her heart wasn’t beating so fast.   
She scrambled out of her sheets, sitting on the edge of her bed.   
'Is it gone?' She called out, and the boy from the hill turned to her.   
'Somewhat.' He said with a smirk, and she smiled back.  
'Thanks for saving me.'   
'No problem.'  
'But you wouldn't have had to, if you hadn't have fallen asleep.' She said, trying to break the ice.  
'Well, you were quite boring.' He replied. Andrey smiled.  
'Well being attacked by furies can do that to a person.' He made a face, and looked like he was about to retort when Percy came running down the hallway.   
'What's wrong? Why were you calling me?' He said quickly, his eyes darting around. His eyes found the girl’s body, making them go wide.   
He made a gasp and darted over to her. Andrey listened into their conversation with curiosity.  
'Rachel! Rachel! Are you okay?' He said, lightly slapping the sides of her face. 'He turned to the boy. ‘What happened?'   
'Um. I can explain that.' The boy said, and Percy frowned at him. Andrey tried to hold in a laugh.  
'Well?' He asked expectantly. The boy told Percy the whole situation, and Percy looked at him in a suspiciously calm demeanor.   
'So let me get this straight. My best friend was possessed by something called a Eidolon, tried to kill my sister, and so you knocked her out cold with your hammer?' Andrey hid her smile with her hands, and tried to hold down the laugh that was bubbling inside of her.  
'Pretty much.' Percy sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.  
‘I think the universe hates me.' He said miserably.  
'I'm pretty sure the universe doesn't hate demigods, but smites them for just being too damn awesome.' Andrey rolled her eyes, chuckling softly into her sheets.  
'Well I should probably go round up the Senior Counsel.' Percy looked cautiously at Andrey. She couldn’t hear exactly what he said, because it was too faint. But he was probably telling the boy to take care of her, because he nodded.  
'Will do, captain.' He watched Percy go, and then turned back to the infirmary.   
She took him in, her eyes gliding over his features. He was tall (well, at least taller than her, but that’s not such a huge defeat, because she’s pretty short) with caramel skin. Messy dark hair curled around his small, pointed, angular face, which held big, dark brown eyes that seemed to burn with a constant mischievous manner. She realized she was staring, and that he was staring back at her. She looked down, clearing her throat awkwardly.   
You don’t even know his name. She scolded herself.  
'So, um, I don't really have a shirt to wear. Or any clean pants.' He looked up.  
'You could always borrow something from me, and then get some clothes from the Aphrodite cabin after the Senior Counsel meeting. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.'  
'Really? Thanks.' She said with a warm smile. He smiled back.  
'Well, wearing my clothes would be a lot better than going out with just bandages.' Andrey felt the warmth of a blush cross her cheeks.  
'Probably.' They both laughed.  
'Well, why don't we just quickly go to the Hephaestus cabin and grab some clothes, then.'   
'Okay.' She said. He pulled her up from her bed, but when she tried to stand, pain shot through her back, and she stumbled.   
He caught her by the waist, and she straightened, trying to suppress the weird feeling of nervousness go through her. She shook her head slightly.   
Stop it, she scolded herself. You can’t start feeling that way, you idiot.   
She smiled at him apologetically, and put one arm around his neck. He guided her to his cabin, whilst she constantly tried to bury her feelings.

 

When they got to the cabin, Andrey wanted to laugh at the boy’s expression. He looked totally mortified, and was trying to hide it.   
She suppressed her laughter, trying to at least spare him from embarrassment.   
She looked around, and metal was all over the floor, along with clothes. She noticed with amusement that there were a bunch of guys hanging off of their beds, mostly half naked.   
She quietly laughed at the whole scene, remembering how the rooms in foster homes looked, especially the ones of the teenagers.   
‘It kinda reminds me of a foster home.’ He looked at her weirdly, probably questioning her sanity.   
‘You’re not grossed out or anything?’ He asked with confusion. She laughed a little harder.   
'No, not really. It could use some cleaning-' She said, stepping over a huge chunk of metal, 'but I've seen worse.'  
He laughed. 'You must've lived with some pretty nasty people.'  
'Nah, just teenage boys.' They both laughed.   
He guided her to his bed. It was sort of messy, but not as messy as the rest of the room.   
She looked around, taking in the scraps of metal and the pieces of paper strewn all over the bed, and realized that the pieces of paper were blue prints. Of some sort of a metal… dragon?  
'Are those blue prints of a dragon?' She asked, looking up at him. She noticed that he had been looking at her in wonder, which made her stomach retract with nervousness.   
Gods, I’m so useless.   
'Er yeah. I have a metal dragon that sort of got cut to shreds in King Midas' palace. And it's head is now the masthead of the Argo II, which is the trireme built by the Hephaestus cabin.’ Andrey looked at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity. 'It's a long story.'  
She picked up a pile of papers from his bed and sat down. 'I have time.' He chuckled.  
'I'll tell you later, when there aren't any half-naked guys around us. And you have a shirt on.' Waving at both the room and her get-up. She looked down and blushed.  
'That's probably a good idea.' Andrey replied sheepishly.   
He walked over to his trunk, and she followed a minute later, as he quickly tried clean up his trunk. She stopped and stood next to him.   
Her eyes darted through the contents of the trunk, her mind sparking with curiosity as she tried to find something to wear.   
She looked up to see him staring down at her, with a strange look on his face.   
His eyes quickly darted down to his trunk. She looked down a moment later, her gaze falling on a green v-neck t-shirt.  
'I think this will do.' She said, as she knelt down and held up the shirt. He nodded, and she quickly slid it over her head.   
It hung out from her body, but despite it being a bit too big for her, it was warm and smelled faintly of burning wood and pine needles.   
He looked into her eyes, and she stared back into his dark brown ones. They were beautiful, and held a spark in them, like fire. He was the one to look down first, and she stared at him expectantly.   
'Er… so. You still need some shorts, right?' He asked, scratching the back of his neck.  
'Yeah, but I'm not sure that yours would fit me. You being so big and all.' She said jokingly, gesturing at him with her hands. He laughed.   
'Or maybe you're just too damn small.' She immediately widened her eyes and opened her mouth in an O shape, putting a hand over her heart.  
'I am offended.' Andrey replied. Laughter bubbled inside her again, and she broke into a smile. 'But seriously, I don't think your fancy Counsel would want me there in dirty, ripped shorts.' He chuckled softly and nodded.  
'We can just borrow some from one of my cabin mates, Nyssa. She won't mind.' He strode over to Nyssa's trunk, with Andrey reluctantly following behind him.   
She was unsure if the girl would want her wearing her clothes… if some of Andrey’s clothes went missing, she’d be pretty pissed. He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. 'Don't worry, if she gets mad, blame it on me.'   
'Okay.' Andrey sighed, deciding to give in. Don’t get the wrong idea: she doesn’t like stealing. She just really needed some pants.   
He opened the trunk, took out some denim shorts and threw them at her. She did a circle with her fingers, motioning him to turn around. She was confident, but not that confident. He rolled his eyes, but did it anyway. She quickly slipped on the shorts, which fit surprisingly well.  
'Okay let's get this show on the road.' She said, and grabbed his hand. 

 

Once they got to the Big House - where the Counsel was meeting - the boy and Andrey just stood outside the door of the Activity Room, listening to the loud voices protruding from it.   
Her stomach writhed with nervousness, but she suppressed it and stepped into the room, which had gone completely silent as soon as she stepped in.   
‘So this is the girl who's supposed to save us all?’ Said a big, burly girl with brown hair.   
‘I didn't exactly word it like that, Clarisse. Don't be rude.’ Percy snapped, rolling his eyes.  
‘Well, why don't you explain to us exactly how it is that your sister some how found Camp and decided it was a good idea to bring Furies here?’ Clarisse retorted angrily.  
‘Oh yeah, cause I totally wanted those Furies chasing after me and shredding my back. Cause, you know, I do that kind of shit for fun.’ Andrey retorted, anger shooting through her.   
She hates when people falsely accuse her. Dealing with foster families definitely taught her to fight back.   
Clarisse turned to her with a look of hatred.   
Andrey kept eye contact, and tried to keep her anger in check. Percy shot her a warning look, and she shrugged, trying to look nonchalant whilst anger was clawing at her like a wild animal.  
‘Clarisse, blaming Andrey for bringing Furies to the camp is irrational. Of course she didn't mean to bring them here. Why, for the love of the gods, would she ever do that? Plus, Percy's told me that she has something to tell us. So I think we should listen to her.’ The blonde girl, Annabeth, said.   
Andrey was surprised that she was defending her, but Annabeth seemed pretty close to Percy.  
‘Me too.’ The boy from the hill agreed. ‘I think we need to at least hear her out.’ Andrey looked up at him and smiled, which he returned.  
‘What Andrey told me will seriously change the way we need to go about things. Mostly concerning our quest.’ Percy said. Everybody turned their attention to Andrey, and her anger quickly simmered into nervousness.   
Being in the spot light really isn’t her “thing”. She groaned inwardly and tried to explain the situation as best as she could.   
When she was finished, everybody (including the boy) was staring at her in disbelief.   
‘So you're saying that a girl - who sounds a lot like the resident oracle - told you that you had something to do with the quest of seven?’ Clarisse demanded. Andrey nodded cautiously, hoping that she could somehow convince them she’s not as crazy as they obviously think she is.   
‘Also. Probably one important detail: I'm absolutely sure that the girl in her dreams - the “oracle” as you call her - was the one that tried to strangle me in my sleep.’ With that, the room went into an uproar, with people demanding information (mostly Clarisse) and people asking what in the Zeus Andrey meant by the oracle strangling her.   
Andrey heard the clomping of hooves behind her and turned. What she saw was both confusing and completely impossible: a half man half horse, who had a very stern look on his face and seemed highly important. Andrey stepped out of the way, stumbling over the boy beside her.  
‘QUIET!’ The horseman exclaimed. The room fell silent.   
‘Speak with rational minds. Obviously Rachel would never purposely strangle a demigod in her sleep. At least with out a good reason. I've been informed that Rachel is indeed awake from a certain mishap-’ His eyes darted quickly towards the boy, ‘so I decided to fetch her and bring her here.’   
The girl, Rachel, stood before Andrey. She glanced at Andrey, smiling warmly. Andrey’s whole body tensed, which she knew was stupid, but she could still feel Rachel’s hands on her neck.  
‘Andrey is right. Despite the strange mishap with her just an hour ago, I did bring her here because she is extremely important to the quest at hand. I had visions just a few months ago, telling me that the quest of seven is, in fact, a quest of nine.’ The whole room looked at her in shock. ‘I got a new prophecy, in addition to the prophecy of seven, stating so.’  
‘So you're telling me that the prophecy of seven is a prophecy of nine, and you had known this for a few months and didn't tell us? And then brought a girl here because she's one of the additions to the prophecy? And you didn't tell us?’ Clarisse exclaimed, but Rachel just looked at Clarisse with a smirk.   
A laugh was hitched in Andrey’s chest, but she suppressed it, as she was sure that Clarisse would pummel her if she did.  
‘Yes. I obviously couldn't tell you until I got Andrey here, or there would be a huge debate on who got to go, even though the prophecy says different.’  
‘So what does the addition to the prophecy say?’ Annabeth asked.  
‘The prophecy states: 

Before there were seven, now there are nine,  
The Prophecy at hand now inclines:  
One, who was met in a dream,  
A daughter of Poseidon now added to the seam:  
Yet this one is not how she seems.  
The curse of Aphrodite leaves a target on her head,  
Leaving one of the nine dead:  
And one, who will bring light upon the quest,  
A Daughter of Apollo who will bring peace upon the rest:  
To achieve the goal of closing the doors of death.’

After Rachel was finished, Andrey stood there in total shock. All she could think about was her curse: and that Rachel knew about it.   
She wanted to scream, but she kept her face twisted in confusion rather than in frustration.   
‘So, you're saying that you found the daughter of Poseidon, who is cursed by Aphrodite, of all people, but you haven't found one simple Apollo demigod yet?’ Clarisse demanded.  
‘Well, you'd be surprised how hard it is nowadays to find demigods. Especially one that is a pyrokinetic.’  
‘Pyrofanetic?’ A boy asked. Rachel rolled her eyes.  
‘Pyrokinetic. It's the power of controlling fire. Our friend Leo here has it, and it can be possessed by children of both Hephaestus and Apollo.’  
Andrey looked up at Leo, realizing that she hadn’t known his name until now. It suited him somehow.   
‘How do you know that the Apollo kid in the prophecy has it?’ Another boy, presumably the “pyrofanetic” kid’s twin.  
‘The mention of bringing light upon the quest. I've been thinking about the prophecy for a long time-’ Clarisse snorted, ‘and I've been able to interpret most of the hidden meanings in the prophecy, except for some minor details.’   
Her eyes darted quickly to Andrey, and then back to the Counsel. Andrey’s heart sped up, as she knew exactly what she was confused about.  
‘That's all fine and good, but can Andrey please explain why the prophecy states that she has a curse of Aphrodite? Cause the Aphrodite cabin would like to be informed.’ Asked a girl, who had short, cropped hair with an eagle’s feather braided into it. Andrey assumed that she was the Aphrodite cabin leader.   
Leo looked down at Andrey. She looked down, trying to suppress the anger from before, which now felt like it was literally burning inside of her. She looked up, trying to level her voice.  
‘Well, it means that I have a curse from Aphrodite. No big deal. It doesn't really mean much.’ She said, trying to sound nonchalant. The Aphrodite girl looked at her with suspicion.  
‘My mom never puts a curse on someone for no reason. And her curses are never a “no big deal”, either. She's mental, but she's my mom.’ Andrey looked up into the girl’s eyes, her anger burning even more.  
‘Well then maybe you should ask your mom, cause I'm sure as hell not giving children of Aphrodite my back story.’ She snapped, suddenly aware of how far it would take for her to jump and strangle the girl.   
‘Fine. All I'm saying is that if it puts one of us in danger, it's on you.’   
Andrey’s anger burned to rage, which writhed and clawed in her chest and her throat, her brain immediately going through the ways she could possibly make this girl hurt more than how much Andrey hurt when Sam died.   
‘It won't, so keep your thoughts to yourself.’ Andrey snapped. Percy cleared his throat.  
‘So, is everyone fine with Andrey continuing on as apart of the nine?’ He interrupted, and everyone slowly nodded, even Clarisse and the Aphrodite girl.   
‘Good. Now all we need to do is find the child of Apollo.’   
‘Yeah, because the Daughter of Apollo's just going to fall right out of the sky.’ Andrey retorted, dripping with sarcasm.   
Suddenly, there was a sudden crash right outside the Big House, accompanied by a jolt.   
Andrey looked up at Leo in confusion, and they all rushed outside. A convertible car was crashed right into the side of the Big House, absolutely totaled.   
A tall girl stumbled out of the car. She had pale skin – which was patched with black marks from soot – and golden blonde hair.  
‘Holy Zeus.’ She said, staring at the car and running her right hand through her wild hair.   
‘Dad's gonna kill me!’   
A guy, who had similar features to the car-girl, looked at the girl with confusion and frustration.  
‘No shit Sherlock. That's his favourite car!’ The girl turned to him with anger in her eyes.   
‘Well you're not exactly helping by standing there, you dipshit!’ The girl yelled at him, and everybody gasped.   
Andrey tried to suppress a laugh, because this was the first time she had heard people swear here. The guy rolled his eyes.  
‘Guys, meet Alina, daughter of Apollo.’ Leo turned to Andrey, with fake shock on his face.   
‘You didn't tell me you were psychic.’   
‘Oh shut up.’ She said, rolling her eyes slightly and punching him in the arm. Alina stumbled towards the group.  
‘Oh my god, you're on fire!’ The Aphrodite girl exclaimed, and Alina just looked down to her arm, which was engulfed in flames.  
‘Eh, don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt, or burn. It just kind of… sits there.’ She said, with a smile.   
‘Our lives are seriously crazy.’ Leo said to Andrey. She nodded in agreement.  
‘No kidding. I mean, I thought foster homes were crazy, until I came here.’ Leo laughed.   
Alina’s brother, who Leo told me was named Will Solace (Solace. Seriously, Apollo?), guided her back to the Big House, probably to check for wounds. Everybody dispersed, looking extremely sleep deprived.   
All except for Leo, his hand gripping Andrey’s forearm as he gave her a tour of the Camp. He stopped abruptly, making her jolt back.  
‘What’s wrong?’ Andrey asked, her eyes darting.   
‘I just realized we’ve never been properly introduced.’ He said. She rolled her eyes.  
‘We both know each other’s names. What’s the big deal?’ She asked, and he pierced his lips at her.  
‘Because,’ He started, trying to come up with a reason, ‘I said so.’ Andrey snorted, looking him over.   
‘Okay, fine.’ She held out her hand. ‘Hi, I’m Andrey Jackson. Daughter of Poseidon.’ Leo rolled his eyes, but took her hand and shook it.  
‘Valdez. Leo Valdez.’ He said, wiggling his eyebrows. ‘Son of Hephaestus and devastatingly handsome young demigod.’ She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, lurching him forwards.  
‘Come on, 007. You need to at least take me to the Aphrodite cabin and get me clothes before our tour’s done.’ He chuckled, his long fingers closing over her hand. 

 

When they arrived at Aphrodite’s cabin, Andrey immediately connected it to looking like a pink Barbie house, like the one she had in one of her foster homes when she was a toddler.   
It had a pink door, lace curtains, and flowers planted in pink flowerbeds by the windows. She looked at Leo and raised her eyebrow.  
‘I know it’s too pink, and it’s really girly, but Piper actually does have normal clothes.’ Andrey looked at him skeptically. ‘I swear.’   
‘Fine.’ She groaned, and he opened the door and walked in.   
Her first thoughts were that Aphrodite was going to smite her for being in the cabin, but after a minute of not being burned alive, Andrey relaxed and looked around.   
The cabin smelt heavily of perfume, kind of like an Abercrombie and Fitch store, except with extremely girly/flowery smelling perfume and not a nice, musky smell.   
The walls were pink with a white trim, and the curtains and beds were all either pastel blue or green. There were a lot of extremely good-looking people bustling about the cabin, and a lot of the girls looked like they could be supermodels.   
Leo led Andrey to a bed that was different from the others: instead of pastels, the bedding was black and white; the posters of actual movies instead of good-looking actors.   
There was a trunk in front of the bed, which read “Piper”.   
Andrey looked up to see the girl from the Counsel meeting, and a new wave of anger started inside of her. Leo looked at the both girls and cleared his throat.  
‘So, we were wondering if Andrey could borrow some of your clothes. Or if, you know, you could make her some?’ Leo asked Piper cautiously. Piper was still looking Andrey over, but obviously decided that Andrey was okay, because she nodded.   
‘Sure. I don’t know whether or not my clothes will fit you, but I can definitely go through stuff and hem them for you.’ She said to Andrey, and Andrey nodded, completely surprised at how nice she was.  
‘Thanks, I really appreciate it.’ Piper smiled suddenly, and it seemed genuine. Andrey smiled back, glad that she hadn’t made an enemy out of this girl. She seemed pretty cool.   
‘No problem. It looks like Leo’s t-shirt doesn’t fit you really well anyway.’ She said, and Leo laughed.  
‘Yeah, we’ve already established that she’s the smallest of the bunch. She’s probably even smaller than Hazel, and that’s saying something.’ Andrey rolled her eyes.   
‘Oh, come on. Give me a break. I obviously didn’t get Percy’s Jolly Green Giant genes.’ Piper burst out laughing, along with Leo.   
Andrey let out a laugh, and it felt good to laugh normally.   
Piper went to her trunk a while later and pulled out an orange t-shirt that was labeled Camp Half-Blood. It was big, but would probably fit.   
Piper then drew out some jeans, which were definitely too big for Andrey in several places.   
She’s not necessarily a “curvy” girl, okay? It’s just another one of her (somewhat) body issues.   
Anyway, Piper gestured for Leo and Andrey to sit down, so they both gladly planted themselves on the floor, leaning against the bed next to Piper’s.   
Piper waved her hand over the jeans, and suddenly they became smaller. Much smaller. As if someone had shrunk them in the dryer.   
‘Holy Zeus.’ Andrey said, and she looked at Piper.   
‘That’s awesome!’ Piper smiled at her.   
‘Can you make holes in them?’ Andrey asked.  
‘Nah, but you can use this.’ She said, bringing out a blade. Andrey smiled, grabbing the blade and started cutting and fraying the jeans.  
‘Here, I can cut the shirt.’ Piper said, and Andrey handed over the blade. Piper cut the t-shirt so it was a tank top, and Andrey smiled at her gratefully. Piper looked down at Andrey’s shoes and made a face. Andrey’s eyes surveyed them, taking in the worn, almost falling apart soles and the dirt ridden fabric of her chucks.  
‘You’re gonna need new ones.’ Piper said, and moved to a bed across from her and rummaged through it. She took out a pair of small, black converse, which looked brand new.  
‘You’re stealing these from another person?’ Andrey asked, and Piper laughed.  
‘Technically, yes, but the owner has never worn them before and her step-mom gave them to her. She’ll never notice they’re gone, and if she does, she’ll probably thank you.’ Piper smiled, and Andrey looked at the shoes and took them reluctantly.   
Andrey then quickly went into the bathroom to slip on the clothes, and when she came out, Piper looked smug and Leo had his arms crossed, blushing slightly. Andrey raised an eyebrow and Piper just waved it away, like there was nothing wrong.   
Leo got up quickly, looking Andrey over.   
‘Let’s go get you to your cabin.’ He said, a little too quickly.  
‘Um, okay. Bye Piper! See you later!’ Andrey said, waving.   
Piper waved back, and Andrey turned to Leo.   
‘You okay?’ She asked, and he nodded.  
‘Yeah, it’s just pretty late and you should probably get settled before lunch.’   
He led her to another cabin, which was low, long and solid. The walls were a rough, gray stone with pieces of seashells and coral on it, making it look like the ocean floor. Leo opened the door and stepped in, and Andrey looked around.   
There were windows going from floor-to-ceiling on the right side of the cabin, which faced the lake. There were four empty bunk beds, with two of them obviously occupied: one was quite messy, and had a wooden box sitting on the stand beside it and photos everywhere; the other was mostly clean, but had some scraps of metal on it.   
The walls glowed like abalone, and there was a fountain in the middle of the room, made out of gray sea rock. A fish spouted water from its mouth in the middle, and it had a coral decoration.   
As Andrey looked closer, she saw a bunch of golden drachmas at the bottom. She looked around the room more, and saw a few bronze sea horses on the ceiling. There were some underwater plants and corals sitting at the windowsills and in the corners of the room.   
Andrey looked at Leo in amazement, and realized he had been staring at  
her the whole time. She blushed and looked away.   
‘Pretty amazing, right?’ He asked, breaking the silence.   
‘It feels like… home.’ Andrey replied, and immediately froze.  
She felt a burst of surprise at her own words, and realized they were true; this was the first time she had ever truly felt at home.   
She ran over to a bed, which was totally unoccupied and climbed up to the top bunk. She dumped her backpack there, and motioned for Leo to come up. He clambered up the ladder and sat facing her, his back resting against the backboard.   
‘What is all this stuff?’ Leo asked, gesturing to the contents from Andrey’s backpack.  
Andrey smiled and went through her stuff, showing him her belongings.  
‘This,’ Andrey said, picking up her dagger, Romphaea, ‘was a gift from a friend of mine, Sam. He was a son of Hephaestus – well, Vulcan, technically - like you.’   
She held Romphaea out for Leo to see, and she looked the dagger over in pride. It had a short hilt, built for her hands.  
‘It expands, hence it’s name, Romphaea, which means “long sword” in Latin.’   
She held the dagger up and flicked her wrist, enabling it to expand to a sword.   
‘It’s made of a mix between Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold.’ She explained.  
“That’s awesome! Have you used it much?” He asked, and she looked at him sheepishly.   
‘I still don’t exactly know how to wield it properly, cause Sam was teaching me but-’ She stopped, flashes of memories coming back to her, ‘he left.’  
Leo looked at Romphaea in amazement.   
Leo ran his fingertips over the blade. ‘I wish I could make something like that.’   
Andrey broke into a smile, running her own fingers across the blade.   
‘Yeah, Sam was an amazing handicraftsman. He could build anything.’ Her voice cracked a little, but she held it together.   
Not now, Andrey. She told herself. You can’t cry here.  
She smiled and looked up at Leo, who was staring at her.   
Oh, great. Those stupid eyes of his are just making it worse. She looked away quickly, picking up another one of her possessions.  
‘This belonged to one of my foster fathers, probably one of my only good ones.’ Andrey said, holding out a silver ring on a chain, that had a diamond pattern dented into the metal.   
‘He was an engineer, and this was his ring that he got when he graduated with his major.’ She smiled a little. ‘He was a great guy.’   
She put it on, and it hung just a little below her collarbone.   
‘There’s also this,’ She said, picking up a teddy bear, ‘which I stole from one of my later foster sisters, cause she was being mean to me. I hid it underneath her mattress and she cried for hours on end, but they still never found it.’ She smirked looking up at Leo. ‘I was always the trouble maker.’  
He smiled back. ‘Yeah, me too. Except I was always ran.’   
She looked up at him in shock. ‘You were a foster kid too?’   
‘Yeah, but I never stayed in one place for long. I ran away, and child services moved me to another home. And so on a so forth.’  
‘I only ran away once, and they never found me. Been on the run for the past four and a half years.’ She winked at him, making him chuckle.   
‘You must be some kind of pro or something.’   
She smirked. ‘Or something.’   
She sighed, tucking the rest of her belongings back into her backpack.   
‘So is there lunch or something? Cause I’m starving.’ And right on cue, her stomach growled.   
Leo laughed. ‘Yeah, down at the dining pavilion. We can walk over there now, it’s probably already started anyway.’   
They walked for a while outside, Leo pointing out certain aspects of the Camp.   
There was the “climb wall of doom”, which was basically a climbing wall that spat out lava; the arena, where Leo said campers learnt how to sword fight; plus all the cabins, which there were twenty of.   
‘And here we are.’ Leo said, gesturing towards the dining pavilion.   
‘We, unfortunately, can’t sit together. It goes against the “camp rules”, apparently. So you’ll have to sit with Percy.’   
Andrey laughed as he made a face at the prospect.  
‘What about me?’ A voice asked behind them. Leo’s face went red as he turned around, making Andrey laugh even harder.   
‘Nothing! Catch you later, Andrey.’ He said, ruffling her hair. She smacked him in the arm as he strode over to the Hephaestus table.   
Percy just shook his head and led her over to the Poseidon table, where a Cyclops sat, who was waving Percy over.   
‘Percy-’ Andrey started, right before they got to the table. ‘Why is there a Cyclops at the table?’ He laughed.  
‘That’s Tyson, our half-brother. He’s awesome and really friendly. Like really. Brace yourself for some of the biggest hugs you’ve ever had.’   
‘Okay…’ She said, and they walked over.   
‘Percy! Who’s new girl?’ Tyson asked, looking at me. ‘She pretty.’   
‘Tyson, this is our sister, Andrey. Andrey, this is Tyson.’ Tyson’s eyes grew wide.  
‘Sister! Daughter of Poseidon?’ She nodded with a smile. He got up and grabbed her waist, picking her up and hugging tight.   
‘Okay, maybe a little too tight.’ Andrey squeaked, and Tyson put her down with a huge smile on his face.   
She smiled back and sat down between him and Percy.   
The pavilion was made up of multiple pillars that held up a triangular wooden roof. The tables were covered with white tablecloths fringed with purple, and at the very middle of the pavilion was a bonfire, which Percy said is lit during dinner.   
Nymphs arrived, serving them whatever drinks they want (Andrey ordered a Dr. Pepper), and sandwiches, along with grapes and cheese.  
‘This is great.’ She said, between bites of her sandwich.   
Percy laughed. ‘Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. Except we aren’t really allowed to sit with other cabins.’   
‘Oh, yeah, Leo told me about that. Why not?’ She asked, and he shook his head.  
‘I don’t really know. It’s just always been a rule. It’s only ever been broken by Annabeth, who came over to our table a few years ago to talk about a quest.’   
Andrey raised her eyebrow.  
‘Is she like, your girlfriend or something?’ She asked, nudging him with her elbow.  
‘Well, yeah, technically.’ He said, with a big smile.   
‘Ohoho. Percy’s got a girlfriend.’ She said, wiggling her eyebrows. He shoved her a little, and she shoved him back.   
‘You’re not funny.’ Percy said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.  
‘I am so.’ Tyson laughed beside her.   
‘See? Tyson thinks I’m funny. Right, Tyson?’   
‘Andrey funny.’ He responded, chuckling into his hands. Percy shook his head.

Once lunch was done, Leo came over and waited for Andrey. Percy looked between the two of them.   
‘Something going on here?’ He whispered to her, wiggling his eyebrows.  
‘What? No. What are you talking about?’ She responded, all too quickly.   
She got up, waving him away. ‘Bye Percy!’   
She walked quickly up to Leo before Percy could point out anything else.  
‘What was that about?’ Leo asked curiously.   
‘Nothing, just Percy being Percy.’ Andrey said, and he laughed.  
‘Okay, if you say so. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the arena, seeing as you said you needed to learn how to fight, which is a pretty important skill here…’ He offered, and she smiled.  
‘Sounds awesome. I’ll go get my sword and meet you there.’ Andrey ran to her cabin, opened the door and clambered up the ladder to her bed.   
Her hand was already gripped around Romphaea when she heard the cabin door slam shut, and when she looked down, her eyes fell upon a woman.   
The woman was devastatingly beautiful, and her features seemed to change every moment Andrey stared at her, like she was representing every beautiful person in the universe.   
Angered clawed at Andrey insides.  
‘Aphrodite.’ Andrey growled, glaring down at the woman.   
The woman glared back, standing her ground.   
‘Andromeda.’


	3. CHAPTER III - ANDREY

‘What do you want?’ Andrey snapped viciously. Aphrodite glared back, not rocked by the demigod’s lack of respect.   
‘I just came in for a little… check up.’   
‘Well why don’t you check yourself out of here? You have no right to be here. Or anywhere near me, for that matter.’  
‘Aw, why? Because dear little Sammy is gone forever? Get over it, kid. Even if he was your “true love” or whatever, that ship’s sailed.’   
Rage surged through Andrey, and she grabbed one of her small daggers and chucked it at Aphrodite.   
Aphrodite picked up one of Tyson’s pieces of scrap metal, blocking the dagger. It struck through her makeshift shield, making her wince.   
She took her sheild away from her face, recoiling in terror. ‘Gods, you’ve gotten more and more violent in the past years.’  
‘Yeah, well, I’ve got you to thank for that.’   
Aphrodite shrugged. ‘I try. But to get down to the more serious matters: that little boy you’ve been hanging out with is in a little bit of trouble.’   
Terror sparked through Andrey. She turned to the door, but Aphrodite appeared there.   
‘Tut tut. We need to talk first. Look, I’m married to that big lug that Leo kid calls “daddy”. And Hephaestus, despite his obvious lack of charm, does have some sentimental feelings. And he sometimes – emphasis on the sometimes – actually cares about the well being of his kin. And he wasn’t really happy with me about the whole Sam situation. So I’d really rather not kill another one of his kids, so either you keep on doing what you’re doing and get Leo killed, or you go and fall in love with like… a son of Nemesis or a mortal. Now that I wouldn’t care about. Got it? Good. Remember: love is a testy thing. Especially when the goddess controlling it hates your guts.’   
Andrey picked up Romphaea, and with a guttural growl, flung it at Aphrodite.   
‘Okay good talk, bye!’ At that, Aphrodite disappeared, and Romphaea embedded itself into the top of the doorframe just as Leo walked through it.  
‘Son of a Minotaur!’ He screamed.   
Andrey stomped over, reached up and pulled out Romphaea.   
‘Let’s go.’ She said, and grabbed the back of Leo’s t-shirt and dragged him out of the cabin, slamming the door closed.

 

When they got to the fighting arena, almost everybody was already there. When Leo and Andrey came in, there were many funny looks passed around, partially because of Andrey’s dramatic entrance to camp, and also because Andrey happened to be sitting on top of Leo’s shoulders.   
Leo stopped beside the new Apollo kid, Alina, who looked up at the two of them in amusement.   
‘This is going to be a very interesting summer.’ She said, looking them over.   
‘Camp Half-Blood is about as interesting as it gets, darling.’ Andrey said, and Alina laughed in reply.   
People piled into the arena, most of them either new campers or campers who needed some practice.   
Percy was in the middle of the arena, sizing everybody up. He looked over at Leo and Andrey and face palmed.   
‘Okay guys, we’re going to start with a few simple manoeuvres with different weapons like swords – obviously – and some other weapons like hammers.’ He looked at Leo and smiled. ‘But first, we’ll need to know what weapons you can wield and what weapons you want to wield. I’ll go around the group, you guys just… talk amongst yourselves.’  
‘What if we don’t know what weapon we want?’ Alina asked, and Andrey shrugged. Andrey looked down at Leo.   
‘Do you know, fire boy?’ Andrey asked, and Leo shook his head.   
‘Why? Have you not fought before?’ Andrey asked Alina, and she shook her head.   
‘I just use fire. It’s pretty accessible for me and very helpful.’ Andrey nodded. ‘Plus it’s more fun than wielding swords. I mean, you can just go BAM fire and people will definitely stay away from you.’   
Andrey nodded her head in understanding as the three watched Percy slowly go around the group.   
He finally got to Piper, who was standing beside Andrey and Leo, who just gestured to a dagger in her belt. Percy nodded, and approached Leo and Andrey looking them up and down and shaking his head slowly.  
‘I don’t want to know. Leo, I’ve already seen you in action – or at least the affects of you in action – so I don’t need you to tell me. Andrey, what’s your weapon of choice?’ Andrey brought out Romphaea.   
‘Well I have this, I just need to learn how to… use it.’ Leo chuckled, and she hit him on the top of the head.   
Percy rolled his eyes.   
‘Okay, we’ll work on that. Alina –’ He started, looking at the girl, ‘what weapon do you like? Or do you already have one?’   
Alina shook her head. ‘I just basically use my fire abilities. I’m not really skilled in the weapon category.’   
Percy nodded. ‘Okay, some of the students are the same as you, but we’re going to be using blunt swords anyway, so you can still participate. Will get you a weapon a little later, okay?’   
Alina nodded in agreement, and Percy smiled.   
‘Okay, great.’ He said, turning to the class. ‘We’re going to split up in partners. For those who don’t have weapons of your own, don’t worry, because we’ll be using the arena’s today. Andrey, you’ll be my partner.’   
Andrey scoffed and rolled her eyes.  
‘Fine, if you say so sir.’ She said in a mocking voice, saluting him.   
She could feel Leo chuckle, and she kicked him. He let her down, rubbing the part of his chest where she kicked him.   
‘Have fun, teacher’s pet.’ He said with a smirk. She gave him a face and stood next to him.   
Percy returned to the class, looking around at the groups.   
‘Great. But before we go off, I’d like to show you just two simple moves that we’ll be learning today. Leo, could you come up for a second?’   
Leo nodded, approaching the small stage of the arena. He got up, and Percy smiled at him.   
‘Even though a select few of you have hammers like Leo, we can still use – and block – the moves with swords.’ He turned to Leo. ‘Leo, would you do the honours?’   
Leo nodded, and they took fighting positions.   
Percy lunged, and Leo blocked it by backing up and turning his body, bringing the hammer out of his belt. A wicked grin erupted across his face.   
Percy looked concentrated, and as Leo swung, Percy ducked and swung back at Leo’s legs.   
Leo jumped, turned in the air and brought his hammer down on Percy’s side.   
Percy fell to the ground, and Leo stood, wiping the sweat from his brow, the grin still plastered on his face.   
Before anyone could react, Percy was already standing, not even wincing.   
‘Is he like, invincible or something?!’ Alina hissed to Andrey, and Andrey shrugged.   
‘Great, thanks Leo.’ Leo nodded and headed back to the group, standing between Andrey and Piper.   
Andrey gave him an admiring nod, and he smiled back.   
‘And for the last, Jason, could you come up and show us?’   
A tall, blonde guy stepped from beside Piper and approached Percy. He took out a sword from his belt, which was hanging from it.   
Jason – as Percy called him – got into fighting position, mirroring Percy.   
Jason lunged first this time, and Percy sidestepped the blow, lunging back. Jason turned from Percy’s blade and swung at Percy’s mid section, which Percy intercepted with his sword with a clash.   
Percy and Jason kept swinging a few times, until one clash, when Percy slid his sword down Jason’s quickly, and flicked his wrist, loosening it from Jason’s grip, making the sword fall.   
Percy kicked his leg up, making the sword twirl around, and grabbed it by the hilt, pointing both swords at Jason’s heart.   
Percy put the swords down, and handed Jason’s back.  
‘If you guys didn’t get the moves down, don’t worry, because Jason and I will take turns coming around and seeing your progress. Now, split into groups, grab a blunt sword and we’ll get started.’   
Leo looked at Alina, and she shrugged.   
Leo shot a grin at Andrey, gesturing to Percy. She rolled her eyes, punching him in the arm.   
Jason went back to Piper, who had already grabbed two blunt swords for the two of them.   
Andrey went up to Percy just as everyone was flocking to the pile of blunt swords. Percy had already grabbed two, handing one to Andrey.  
‘Ready?’ He asked, a wicked grin spreading across his face. Andrey glowered at him.  
‘I was born ready, little bro.’   
‘I’m not little-’ He started, but Andrey had already lunged at him.   
Percy blocked it with his sword, turning whilst swinging. He brought his sword down, attempting to hit her legs.   
Andrey jumped, nearly missing his blow. He brought his sword up quickly, trying to make up for the miss by hitting her while she was busy with her victory.   
She noticed, and ducked and spun, swinging at his legs. He sidestepped quickly, just in time, and as she was getting up, he jumped and swung at her, replicating Leo’s old move.   
He hit her in the ribs, sending her to the ground. He looked down at her in triumph as she glared at him.   
She sprung up, turning so that she faced his back. She lunged, poking him with the edge of her sword on his butt.   
He turned around, glaring at her. She laughed, and he lunged at her, trying to avenge his pride.   
She deflected his lunge with her sword, swung around low and poked him in the butt again. He growled, turning and hitting her with the blunt edge of his sword on her shoulder.   
She was still laughing, blocking his attempts at throwing her blade to the ground.   
This batter went on for a long time, until their swords clashed hard, and Andrey slid her sword down his, taking his sword, attempting to spin it towards her.   
Percy grabbed at it as she was trying to twirl it, but before he could, Andrey jumped on top of him, bringing both of them struggling to the ground.   
She got on top of him, her knees pinning his chest to the ground, as she reached for his sword, crossing the blades at his neck. She breathed heavily, and it came out as a hearty laugh. Percy rolled his eyes.  
‘Get off of me.’ He said, and she jumped up, helping him stand.   
She gave him his sword, and as she walked away, he poked her in the butt.   
‘You totally cheated.’ He said, and she spun around.  
‘You never said we couldn’t wrestle.’ She said, shrugging while walking backwards.   
He rolled his eyes, brushing his shirt off. She stopped next to Leo and Alina, who had just recently finished fighting.   
‘Okay guys, sword fighting is over for now. You guys have archery, where you’ll find Will waiting for you.’   
Alina groaned, which Andrey responded to in a soft chuckle.   
‘See you guys later!’ Percy called as we all filed out of the arena.   
‘Archery. I’ve never done archery.’ Alina said to Andrey, as they walked side by side with Piper, Jason, and two other campers; who Leo said were named Frank and Hazel.   
‘It’s pretty cool.’ Andrey said, shrugging.   
Suddenly, Leo ran up from behind her, grabbed her legs, and put his head between them. He lifted her up onto his shoulders and she shrieked, hitting him on the top of the head.   
‘Give me a heart attack why don’t you!’ He laughed and kept walking.   
Piper laughed out loud, looking up at Andrey’s face, which was twisted in anger.   
When they reached archery, Jason said goodbye to everyone and started walking over towards the Big House.   
Everyone lined up at the archery range, where Will stood waiting for them like Percy mentioned.   
‘Okay everybody, we’re going to start off with the basics.’ He started, and he explained the right position to hold a bow, and how to cock an arrow, and how to aim properly.   
Meanwhile, Andrey was humming the Little Mermaid. By the end of Will’s instructions, both Leo and Andrey had gotten through “Part of Your World”, “Under the Sea”, and “Kiss the Girl”.  
‘Okay, so now we’ve got that down, everyone grab a bow and some arrows and get started.’   
Leo picked up a bow and an arrow and passed it to Andrey, and grabbed some for him. They both cocked their arrows, aiming at the same target.   
They let their arrows go, both landing two layers away from the bulls eye.   
Alina just laughed, shaking her head.  
‘Life accomplished.’ Andrey said, fist pumping with bow in hand.   
Will approached them, glancing at Andrey and Leo curiously. He just shook his head and turned to Alina.   
‘Have you got everything down?’ He asked, and Alina rolled her eyes.   
‘Yes. You just cock the arrow like so, bring the bow up, aim and fire.’ She said, holding up the bow. Will rolled his eyes.  
‘Fine, if it’s so easy, try hitting the target.’ Alina scoffed.   
She cocked an arrow in her bow, aimed at the target in front of her, drew in a breath and let the arrow go when she exhaled.   
The arrow whipped through the air, hitting the bulls-eye with a thunk. Will stared at her in disbelief.   
‘See? Easy.’   
Will rolled his eyes.  
‘Well we at least know there’s something you’re good at.’ He said, and she gaped at he walked away.   
‘I swear, if he wasn’t my brother, I’d hurt him so bad.’   
Andrey laughed.  
‘Well you could just shoot an arrow at his feet.’ Alina’s eyes sparked as she cocked an arrow and let it go.   
It sunk deep into the ground next to Will’s feet, and he looked up with a glare.   
Alina laughed. ‘Oh, I’m going to pay for that later.’


	4. CHAPTER IV - ANDREY

When Andrey fell asleep that night, she thought, Hey, I’ve just arrived at a demigod camp where I don’t have to run from any monsters or social services. Tomorrow is going to be a great day.  
Yeah, well, she was wrong.   
Not only did Percy, who was exceptionally annoying that morning, drag her out of bed, but it was six in the fucking morning.   
There was nothing he could possibly be happy about.  
Percy threw clothes at her, yelling at her to get dressed for an important senior counsel meeting.   
‘Doesn’t the fucking senior counsel ever sleep?’ She exclaimed, and Percy sighed.   
‘This is important. Just get dressed please.’  
Andrey rolled her eyes, but gave in. ‘Fine. But go outside.’   
Percy scoffed. ‘It’s not like-‘  
‘Hey. It’s six in the morning. I’m tired. Take what you can get.’  
Percy groaned but complied, stepping out of the cabin. Once Andrey was dressed, she looked down at herself, realizing that Percy had gotten them from the Aphrodite cabin.  
The reason she knew wasn’t because it was just the obvious place to go for clothes, but because the top was an extremely tight tank top paired with skin-tight jeans with holes in them.   
Andrey sighed, quickly putting on the converses she got from Piper as she called Percy back inside.   
Percy opened the door, motioning out the door with his head.   
Andrey rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, yeah. Important meeting. Calm down, little bro.’  
She crossed the room and headed out the door, brushing past him. Percy rolled his eyes, shaking his head.  
‘How do you even know who’s older?’  
‘Because I can feel it in my bones. You may be big, Percy Jackson, but I am mature and much more sophisticated.’  
Just then, Andrey tripped over a rock, sending her to the ground. Percy let out a hearty laugh, nearly crying from laughter.  
‘Oh yeah, you’re much more sophisticated than I am.’   
Andrey got up and pushed him, stalking off with a scowl.

 

They got to the Big House, occasionally running into other demigods who had morning training sessions.   
Andrey immediately felt sorry for them, mostly because she had no idea how someone could get up at six in the morning, let alone do physical activities.  
Once they got to the conference room, Andrey looked around, taking in all the faces that she’d failed to miss at the last meeting, when she was too preoccupied with whether or not someone was going to start strangling her again.  
She saw Clarisse, who stared back with a glare. Andrey rolled her eyes, surveying the Toll twins, who looked to be pranking another kid, who was too busy growing grapes out the window.  
Andrey winced as the kid had a bucket of water dumped on him, and turned to look at Annabeth, who was in mid-conversation with Piper. They both looked up, Piper smiling and Annabeth surveying Andrey cautiously.  
Andrey quickly looked away, but saw Annabeth turn back to Piper and gesture at Andrey in the corner of her eye.  
Suddenly, someone started playing with her ponytail, and she rolled her eyes, already knowing whom it was.  
‘You obviously have no life.’ She said, laughing.  
Leo popped out in front of her, smirking. ‘And you obviously have no humour.’  
‘Well you can blame that on lack of sleep. Or, y’know, being up at the crack of dawn.’  
Leo chuckled. ‘Well I heard it was important.’  
Andrey rolled her eyes. ‘We’re demigods. Everything is important to us. We basically live on the verge of life and death everyday.’  
Leo shrugged. ‘True. But I think it has something to do with the quest, considering that we’re all here.’  
Andrey looked around, realizing he was right: everyone in the prophecy was here, even Alina. She was talking to Will, who looked to be lecturing her, probably on the fact that she shot an arrow at his feet.  
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have blamed it on Andrey, who had originally given her the idea. Instead, Alina was laughing manically, probably getting a kick at seeing Will’s face turn purple in anger.  
‘Okay everyone, listen up.’ Percy said authoritatively, looking around the room. ‘Since Andrey and Alina have got here, we haven’t heard much from the Romans, so it’s safe to assume that they’re moving rather slowly. Or so we hope. But we have bigger issues at stake here: especially sense Gaia’s forces are getting stronger and stronger. So, Chiron and I have been talking and have decided that it’s best for the camp if the demigods in the prophecy hightail it out of here.’  
The room was silent for a few moments until the room exploded, everyone questioning whether or not it would be a good idea to leave the camp so undefended.   
Andrey rolled her eyes at the chaos, looking to Leo, who was just smirking.   
After a while, Andrey had enough of it.   
‘Shut it!’ She roared, and everyone – even Clarisse – fell silent. Andrey let out a deep breath before continuing. ‘Listen. If we just sit here and fight all day that just gives the Romans more time to ambush us. And, if you ask me, I’d rather not be impaled by some Roman dude trying to defend his precious ego. Now, if some one’s got something they’d like to say, wait your turn and, for the love of the gods, do not shout. I’m not a morning person, and if you yell at me, I will most definitely disembowel you.’   
Everyone looked at Andrey in shock, some in anger, and – surprisingly – some in admiration.   
Andrey locked eyes with everyone, making sure they got her message clearly. Once she was sure, she clapped her hands, nodding. ‘Now, who’s first?’  
Clarisse stood up, eyeing Andrey. ‘We can’t leave the camp undefended. You’re taking some of our best and most experienced fighters with you. People we can’t afford to lose.’  
Andrey nodded. ‘I understand. Except we aren’t necessarily leaving the camp undefended. We’re not even taking half of the senior counsel, even if you include Connor and Travis as one party. Plus, you have all the rest of the camp, who are definitely willing to defend their home against the Romans.’  
‘You also have Chiron.’ Leo pointed out, and Andrey gestured to him.  
‘See? You have plenty of defences. Plus, you can’t go against a prophecy. Believe me, I’ve tried. It doesn’t work. So unless you want your ass haunted by the prophecy hippy ghost, I suggest you think logically about this.’  
Clarisse’s face hardened, but Andrey could see understanding in her eyes. ‘Fine. So long as we have as much defences as we can, I guess it’s all good with the Ares cabin.’  
Andrey nodded, scanning the room. ‘Any other takers?’   
Annabeth stood up, and Andrey looked at her in shock. She cleared her throat, looking up into Andrey’s eyes.  
‘I don’t have any objections to the quest, obviously, but there’s one thing I think we should all be informed of.’ Andrey’s stomach tightened. ‘The prophecy states that you have the curse of Aphrodite. And even though the Aphrodite cabin has forgotten about this, I haven’t – and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. So please, enlighten us.’  
‘Annabeth!’ Percy hissed, eyeing her with scorn. She shrugged, taking her seat once again.   
Andrey looked at the expecting faces of the counsel members, and, with her hands tightened into fists, she broke the hardened marble of her face with a sneer.  
‘Listen here, wise girl. I don’t have to explain shit to you. So unless you have a problem with the quest, which is what we came here to discuss, I suggest you back the fuck off before I rip your pretty little blonde head off your body.’   
‘Andrey!’ Percy hissed.  
Andrey sighed deeply, totally disregarding Annabeth’s previous statement.   
‘Anymore complaints?’ No one answered, so Andrey nodded. ‘Good. Percy, take the stage.’  
Andrey sat down, glowering. Leo gave her an apologetic look, and she brushed it off, staring off into space.   
Percy snapped her out of her reverie moments later. ‘Andrey, you’re in charge of getting everything ready for the trip. That includes running everything through Leo to see if the ship’s ready, and getting everyone on board. Understood?’   
Andrey nodded, and he smiled back tightly, probably irritated that she just threatened his girlfriend’s life.   
Once it was over, Andrey raced out of the room, trying her best to avoid everyone, especially Percy.   
She was about half-way to heaven, aka her bed, when Percy caught up to her.  
‘Andrey! Andrey hold up!’ He shouted, and, despite her obvious reluctance, she stopped in her tracks, letting him catch up.  
‘What?’ She snapped, shoving her hands in her pockets.  
‘Listen. You know you can tell me anything, right?’ He said, and she rolled her eyes.  
‘This is about the curse isn’t it?’  
‘Well, yes. I know it’s an obvious sore spot for you, but honestly, I think you should at least tell us what the curse does.’  
Andrey rounded on him, rage building up in her chest.   
‘Listen, bro.’ She snapped, putting every drop of venom she had into that one word. ‘I don’t have to tell you jack shit. So drop it before someone gets hurt.’  
Andrey turned to stride off, but Percy grabbed her upper arm, turning her towards him.   
‘I don’t think you understand. One of us is predicted to die because of that curse. Don’t you think we have the right to know what brings it on?’  
Andrey’s jaw hardened as she ripped her arm from his grasp.   
‘You want to know what brings it on? Love, Percy. Love brings it on. The love others have for me kills them. But I think you’re safe, little bro. Because you obviously don’t love me enough to trust me with something I’ve been living with for the past two years.’ Tears burned her throat, but she continued. ‘So fuck you, and your little blonde girlfriend. Tell the counsel I quit. Clarisse can take my spot for all I care.’  
At that, she stormed off, ignoring Percy’s yells in the distance. When she got to the cabin, she ripped her backpack off of her bunk, shoving all her belongings in along with a handful of drachmas.   
She burst through the door, running in the direction of the pine tree, trying to out run anyone who would try and stop her from escaping.   
She could hear someone yell her name from the distance, but she ignored it, pumping her legs.   
Suddenly, before she had anytime to process the pounding of feet from behind her, she was tackled to the ground.   
She screamed, yelling out several names that would’ve gotten her a mouth of soap in foster care.   
‘Stop fighting, Andrey!’ Her attacker shouted, but she didn’t listen. She struggled, trying to break free of the hands that pinned her to the ground.  
‘Andrey stop!’   
The voice broke through her haze of rage, and she looked up into dark brown eyes, which carried a familiar spark.  
‘Leo?’ She croaked, and the grip on her hands relaxed slightly.   
‘Andrey. What are you doing?’  
Andrey shrugged, her hard persona shifting back into place. ‘I was taking a walk.’  
‘Taking a walk? You were racing across camp.’  
Andrey rolled her eyes. ‘I like to walk fast.’  
Leo looked at her in total seriousness, which made her freeze. There was no mischievous spark in his eyes, which were dark and hard, searching her face.  
‘You were running away, weren’t you?’  
Andrey shifted awkwardly, shifting her eyes to the ground and then up again. Her defiant streak shot through her. ‘So what if I was?’  
Leo scoffed. ‘Is that what you do? You run when things get tough?’  
Andrey glared at him. ‘Preach all you want, Leo. You do the same thing. We’re exactly the same.’  
Leo rolled his eyes. ‘You’re right. We are the same. Except the only difference is, I’m not stupid enough to run from the one place that actually feels like home.’  
His words hit her like a blow to the chest, and she looked away, tears threatening to fall. ‘I can’t do it, Leo. I can’t endanger others.’  
Leo looked at her in shock, but she could see the sadness in his eyes.   
‘You won’t.’ He got off of her, helping her up. ‘Don’t listen to Annabeth. You won’t endanger others, because that’s not what you do. You protect others even when they don’t necessarily deserve it.’  
‘You don’t understand, Leo. I’m a danger to everyone around me. The curse-’  
‘Is nothing. Not now. All you have to worry about is Gaia. We’ll tackle the rest of that shit later.’  
Andrey nodded, sighing. ‘So I guess I should go apologize, yeah?’  
Leo chuckled, nodding. ‘Probably. Although I’m absolutely sure you gained the respect of everyone in that room by standing up to both Clarisse and Annabeth. In the same day.’  
She laughed, pushing him. ‘Well, what can I say? I have a big mouth that sometimes says the right things.’  
‘And the wrong things.’ He added, chuckling.  
‘Mostly the wrong things.’ She replied, and they both started laughing.   
After a while they started walking down the hill, laughing along the way at Annabeth’s face when Andrey called her ‘wise girl’.   
Andrey didn’t necessarily feel sorry about it, but she knew it was the right thing to do when she apologized.   
One thing you learn in foster care: always be on the good side of others. You never know when you might need to use them.

 

Back in the Big House, once Andrey had apologized to both Annabeth and Percy, Andrey was completely and utterly speechless.  
Which didn’t happen often, so it was obviously either something extremely awesome or stupid.  
In this case, it was the ladder.   
After announcing that the nine demigods were going on the quest, Chiron decided that the camp would hold a dance in the demigod’s honour.   
Which, to Andrey, was the stupidest idea in the history of ever.  
‘You seriously want to throw a party when not only the Roman demigod camp is planning to attack us as we speak, but an evil old lady god is planning on wiping out our existence along with her several giant sons, who, are in fact, actual fucking giants?’  
Chiron huffed. ‘Yes, Miss Jackson, that is what we are doing.’  
Andrey made her voice high and airy, mocking them. ‘Oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Let me just pick from the mountain of dresses I own – oh wait no, I don’t own any dresses nor would I put one on because this is literally the worst idea since Zeus decided to dress up as a swan to get into a girl’s pants.’  
‘Well it worked for him.’ Percy replied with a smirk.  
Leo laughed outright, and was greeted by a stern look from Chiron, who gave Andrey and Percy equally stern looks.  
‘I appreciate the concern, but let me handle those issues whilst you have fun.’ Chiron said, and looked intensely at Andrey. ‘And do come, Miss Jackson. This will most likely be the last time you find fun in a long time.’  
At that, Chiron left, obviously having to go set up the party that would lead to their imminent deaths.   
‘Well isn’t he a ray of sunshine.’ Leo said, and Andrey chuckled.  
Percy let out a deep sigh, resting one of his hands on Andrey’s shoulder. ‘Try not to get into anymore trouble.’   
He left a moment later with Annabeth, who had been suspiciously quiet the whole meeting, and looked extremely worried for a reason Andrey couldn’t quite grasp.   
Andrey turned to Leo, who was smirking down at her.  
‘Ready to dance your ass off?’  
Andrey laughed. ‘You know it.’

 

Andrey felt immediately out of place.  
Not only was she wearing a dress - which was "lilac", as Piper called it - but she also had no one to really talk to. Almost all her friends were couples, which meant they were hanging pretty close to each other.   
The real question was why they were having a dance in the first place.   
Sure, some people needed to relax. But for the chosen nine, there was really no time to just play around.   
And Andrey was the only one that seemed to really grasp this, which was surprising. You'd at least think Annabeth would have some sort of plan, but her eyes were glued to Percy's and they were dancing in a stupor, completely oblivious to the world.   
And, you know, their imminent deaths.  
This is also why Andrey obviously shouldn't be invited to parties. Because she'll find herself often skulking in a corner or glaring at anyone who comes into her vision.  
So there she was, leaning against a pillar in the pavilion, trying to avoid as much human contact possible.  
Suddenly, someone took her by her waist, grabbed her hand, and flung her into a dance.   
Before she could find her dancing partner's face, they spun her in a circle. Their hands immediately found their place in the crook of her waist, pressing her against their chest.   
She looked up to find Leo smirking down at her. She rolled her eyes.   
"Why is it always you?" She asked teasingly, and she felt him shrug.  
"You looked like you were going to murder someone, so I decided to lighten up your festivities."   
She chuckled. "My festivities were fine without your dancing."   
"Oh, I see how it is. Insult the party, sure. But insult my dancing? You are going to pay dearly for that."   
She rolled her eyes, laughing. "Oh please. I could beat you in my sleep."   
He smirked, which usually meant he was about to do something really stupid.  
"You? Beat me? But you're so tiny!" He exclaimed, lifting her up in the air by the waist. She let out a small yell, glaring at him.   
Once she was back down on the ground, she smacked his shoulder, which only made him laugh harder.  
"Are you swatting at me? Are you a kitten?"   
Andrey scoffed, glaring.   
"I will swat you like a fly if you don't stop it!" She exclaimed, punching his arm.   
He rolled his eyes and led her over to the edge of the pavilion. "Now that we've had our fill of dancing, you want to take a walk?"   
She looked at him suspiciously. "This isn't a prank, is it? Are you going to throw flaming plants at me?"   
He pulled a shocked face. "How dare you! I am Leo Valdez, a gentleman. I would never throw flaming anything at you."  
Andrey scoffed.  
"But actually. Let's take a walk." He urged, and Andrey rolled her eyes.  
She thought it over for a moment before shrugging. "Sure."   
He smiled, lighting up his face as if it was doused in sunlight. She realized she was staring and made herself focus her gaze ahead of them.   
God, Andrey. You can't go all crazy every time he smiles. Get it together.  
They walked into the field, casually talking and strolling. They ended up at a marble bench, decorated with roses and small cherubs.   
She rolled her eyes, looking up to the sky.  
Really, Aphrodite? REALLY?  
The sun was beginning to set, and as they sat down, the field seemed surrounded by orange and pink. She looked at Leo, and with the orange backdrop, it looked like he was a slowly burning coal.   
Gods, she really hated him.  
He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but immediately smile back.   
Was this what it was like with Sam? She wondered.   
Partially, except Andrey never really assessed his beauty, mostly due to the fact that she was a scared little kid who thought she had no chance with him.  
Leo, on the other hand, ignited something within her that was impossible to burn out.   
And even though she knew she could never have what she wanted, for a moment she was happy knowing that it would be different under other circumstances.  
For example, not having him die when she confesses her love for him. Or, you know, just the plain old death threats of Gaia hanging over their heads.   
But no one said life was fair.   
"Penny for your thoughts?"  
She shrugged, smiling. "Just thinking about what it would be like to be normal."  
He made a slight shrug. "Being born a demigod kind of ruined that for us, eh?"  
She chuckled. "Just a little bit."  
A look of curiosity crossed his face. "What do you think we'd be doing if we were normal?"  
Kissing. "I don't know. At the mall?"   
"What about the theatre?"   
Her smile broadened as she imagined it. "Yeah, watching one of those crappy actions movies that you secretly have to love."  
"Sounds amazing."   
She sighed. "Alas. We can't be normal."  
"But we can do normal things." He said, shrugging.  
Andrey looked at him curiously. They stared at each other for a moment before she looked down, causing a strand of hair to fall in front of her face.  
When she looked up, she found Leo still staring intently, which made her blush.   
He smiled dreamily, softly tucking the strand behind her ear. Her stomach constricted with nervousness at what she knew was about to happen.   
His hand cupped her cheek. He looked up at her as if for approval, but her brain was stuck, as if someone had sucked all the logic out of it.   
"Can I maybe kiss you?" He asked, and, in response, her eyes grew wide.   
She stuttered, but couldn't get her mind to wrap around words.   
It felt like her body was moving independently, as if it knew what she wanted.   
She nodded slightly, going against the warnings in her brain.   
Leo leaned in and suddenly, Andrey couldn't breathe.  
The spark that was lit inside of her turned into a wildfire.   
Her brain couldn't grasp anything else than Leo's lips, and his hands that had reached up to cup the sides of her face. She instinctively brought her hands up, entwining them in his hair, trying to move her body as close to his as possible.   
Her ears were singing, and the warmth of his lips and body pressed up against hers was the best feeling she'd ever experienced. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue to venture into her mouth.   
They sat there, locked in this embrace, exploring each other's mouths like they were born to do it.   
Andrey couldn't focus on anything else but him; his hand that had run down her body to her waist, drawing her closer. His other hand was buried in her hair, which was no doubt a complete mess now.   
She had one hand buried in his soft, curly hair and the other flung around his neck tightly, trying to close the space between them.   
Suddenly, her mind flickered with thought.   
Aphrodite.   
It only took this one thought for her to fling open her eyes and draw away from Leo (even though her body was screaming for his warmth).   
"Andrey, what's wrong?" Her heart sank at his expression, which was laced with confusion and hurt.   
"I'm sorry, I just-" She started, her voice cracking. "I can't."   
And then she ran.   
She ran as if Furies were chasing her. She heard Leo calling her name, but her body took control once again.   
Her vision was blurry, and she let out a loud sob, not even trying to maintain composure.   
She finally reached the Poseidon cabin, slowly closing the door and climbed up the ladder to her bed.   
She tried to calm her breathing, but all she could think about was Sam's body, lifeless, laying on the floor of the auto shop.   
Suddenly, Sam's face was replaced with Leo's, who was lying in the emerald grass of the field. The orange and pink sky made him look like an angel, but his eyes were wide open with horror.   
Andrey's body convulsed with a sob, and the sound that protruded from her wasn't even remotely human.   
It sounded like an animal howling in pain.  
After a while, she tried another crack at controlling her breathing. She pushed the other thoughts away, focusing on breathing in and out.   
Finally, she fell into a restless sleep.


	5. CHAPTER V - ANDREY

Andrey walked along the dusty street of a small town. The dry, warm Arizona wind caught her hair as she walked.   
She passed a small super market and smirked, imagining the things she could buy, having just stole money from a promising business man who had passed by her on the street.  
And, with the hundred dollars burning in her pocket, Andrey decided to blow some of the cash on food for the next hop of her journey to the Canadian border.   
She turned the corner to find a small convenience store, her face lighting up at her prospects. 

Roaming down the candy isle, she picked up several packets of different types of candy. Afterwards, she practically skipped to the fridges, swinging the bags of chips in her hands.  
Once she reached the cashier, she had a basket piled full of snacks and drinks - enough to feed a truck load of people.   
The cashier regarded her in amusement, smiling at her. She smiled back warmly.  
"Snacks for the family?" He asked, which unintentionally served as a blow.   
Andrey tried hard not to let her smile falter, sighing.   
"Being the youngest comes with perks." She lied, and the cashier laughed.   
He began to ring in her items, merrily chatting away, telling Andrey about his own family. He described how he once had to do the same thing.  
She smiled and laughed in the appropriate places, all the while imagining what it'd actually be like to be on a road trip with her family, and not alone like she'd been for the past few years.   
Finally, he gave her four plastic bags full of merchandise, and smiled warmly at her one last time.   
Andrey stuffed the merch into her backpack, having a hard time zipping it up due to all the content. Once she finally got it closed, she smiled at the cashier and strode to the door.  
"Have fun on your journey, Andromeda Jackson.” The cashier called out, making Andrey halt to a stop. She’d never told the cashier her name, let alone her full one. Plus, her last name was Richards.  
Wasn’t it?  
Her heart raced as she turned slowly around, facing the cashier.  
"What did you just call me?" She asked cautiously.   
Suddenly, the cashier's warm smile turned into something more sinister.   
Andrey narrowed her eyes, searching his face. Her eyes widened as everything clicked into place.   
"You aren't the cashier, are you?" She asked, backing slowly towards the door of the store.  
"Unfortunately not."  
"What did you do to him?" She asked, and his creepy smile widened.  
"I had to dispose of him."  
"Why?"   
"Because I had to get to you, of course."  
Guilt surged through her at the prospect of an innocent man dying at her expense.   
"What are you?"   
"That doesn't matter now. You won't be alive much longer anyway."  
And at that, she turned and ran for it, pushing open the glass door.   
She heard a roar from behind her, which made her pace quicken.   
Andrey heard something slam into the side of the store, and terror surged through her. She honed in on her terror, letting it surge her body forward.   
Another roar sounded from behind, and she could hear the pounding of four feet behind her, along with the occasional scrape of nails on the pavement. She tried to control her breathing as she turned a tight corner, trying to keep to the sides of buildings so that the monster would run into them.   
Her plan worked, and just as she rounded the next corner, the monster slammed into the corner of one of the buildings. Debris flew everywhere as it let out a loud yelp.  
It rightened itself quickly, but she was already a block ahead of it. It roared in frustration as it quickened its pace, trying to catch up.   
Andrey turned a tight corner once again, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small alley way that had a ladder leading up to one of the roofs of the buildings. She swerved, running into the alley to catch her breath.   
Another roar sounded not far behind her. She ran to the ladder, pulling herself up into the air.   
Andrey heard the monster slide into the alley, it’s claws making a horrible scratching sound on the pavement.   
A frustrated roar came from below, making Andrey take a second to look down at her opponent.   
Her breath hitched at the sight of the monster. It was probably around eight feet tall, with a lion body and the tail of a scorpion. It's face looked like that of a lion, except it had slits for nostrils and long, terrifyingly sharp horns sticking out of the top of its head.   
It had three rows of teeth almost as long as Andrey's forearm; it's red eyes glowed with hunger.   
Beneath the hunger in it's eyes Andrey sensed an intelligence beyond an average animal, an almost human-like understanding about it.  
It's terrifying face suddenly lit up in a smile, making terror shoot through Andrey like ice. A small, terrified gasp escaped her.   
Andrey quickly turned her focus back to the ladder as she pulled herself higher.   
Without warning, the ladder shook, making her loose her grip for a second.   
Andrey slid down the ladder, cursing loudly. She only had a second to realize she had dropped about a foot before pain seared through her right calf, the horrible sound of tearing flesh filling the air.   
She screamed in agony, her whole body shaking as she tried not to fall off the ladder.  
Andrey turned her gaze to the monster - which was only a couple rungs down - regarding it warily. The monster smiled up at her in response, licking it’s maw.   
Her gaze fell on it’s tail, which was poised to strike. Realization shot through her, as did terror.  
She scrambled up the ladder, trying to get as much distance between her and the monster's tail as possible.   
The monster's tail struck the ladder again, but Andrey was ready this time. She gripped the rungs, her lower body swinging as she held on tightly. The monster roared in frustration and she smiled back down at it, which only made it more pissed off.   
She pulled herself higher, her arms slightly protesting, not having worked out in a while.   
The adrenaline coursing through her body, however, drowned out the pain in her calf as she pulled herself up the ladder. She stretched to reach every other rung, trying to get to the top as soon as possible.  
When she reached the top, Andrey pulled herself up onto the landing with a gasp of relief.   
But, as always, her victory was short lived.   
She heard a roar from below her as the ladder started to shake uncontrollably, and her eyes widened in terror. She allowed herself to peek out from the landing, only to see the monster scrambling up the ladder.   
Andrey let out a terrified gasp, searching the roof for any means of escape. Her eyes landed on a small gap between this roof and another, and an idea sparked in her mind.   
Without another thought, she picked herself up and started quickly limping towards the edge of the roof. Despite her calf, she managed to fling herself off the roof onto the other. She landed clumsily, but she landed never the less.   
She looked up, observing the other roof as a paw scraped the surface. Terror shot through her as she examined her surroundings, deciding to jump across roofs to try and out run the monster.   
She took off once again, trying to ignore the searing pain in her calf as she tried to limp fast enough to barrel herself roof to roof.   
It was turning out better than she had expected; the time that it took for the monster to get up the ladder allowed her some leeway.   
Finally, after jumping between several roofs, she heard a roar of terror from behind her, making Andrey skid to a stop.   
She quickly took in her surroundings and realized, in confusion, that she couldn't see the monster.   
Suddenly, her gaze fell upon two paws, scraping the surface of the roof she was on.   
She cautiously approached the edge of the roof, avoiding the paws of the monster as she looked down.   
The monster saw her and roared in frustration, trying to pull itself up.   
She smiled wickedly, drawing out a dagger she'd stolen from another demigod.   
She thought over her possibilities, coming to a conclusion.   
She threw the dagger, targeting the monster's right eye.   
The dagger hit its desired target, making the monster cry out in pain.   
The monster lost its grip of the roof, plummeting towards the concrete pavement below.   
Once she heard the tell-tale thud of the monster, she scrambled to the roof's ladder, sliding down it as quickly as possible until she hit the pavement with a hiss.   
She cautiously circled the monster, making sure it was dead. Once she was absolutely sure, she pulled the dagger out of the creature, making it dissolve into dust.   
Celestial bronze really comes in handy sometimes.  
She quickly glanced around for any signs of humans, and found none.   
So, as nonchalantly as she could, she limped out of the alleyway.  
As soon as she gotten to the outskirts of town, she plopped down on a curb, assessing her calf.   
She had to admit, it looked pretty awful. The caked blood made her jeans black and the cuts were deep. She could see a small glisten of bone.   
The good thing was that it didn’t cause any major damage to her muscles, and the skin was mostly torn off so it’d be easier to clean.  
That doesn’t mean the sight didn’t completely make her want to gag, however.  
She thought through her options as she chewed on her last piece of ambrosia. She bandaged the wound up with some gauze she’d stolen from a rather stupid son of Ares that gave her the ambrosia.  
She could take a bus and risk being seen by the authorities, or steal a car and most definitely be put on their radar.   
Considering the car option gave her a bigger head start, she went with the ladder.  
Except, the only problem was that she had no idea how to steal a car.   
Sure, she knew how to hot wire one - she learnt that from one of her foster siblings. But that whole stick-a-coat-hanger-inside-the-lock thing? That wasn't something she was taught to do.   
Plus, trying to improvise on someone's car wasn't such a good idea.   
Andrey pulled out a packet of beef jerky, groaning at her misfortunes, until a voice interrupted her thoughts.  
"Hey kid, move out of the way." A voice called, and Andrey looked up to see a guy in a tow-truck. She furrowed her eyebrows, looking around until she realized he needed to get to the car that was parked just a little ways from her.  
Andrey picked herself up, limping away from her spot on the curb. "Sorry."   
“Hey, you okay?” The tow-truck driver asked, and Andrey looked down at her leg. She wasn’t exactly sure if he saw anything, so she tried to shrug it off.  
“Yeah, just a scrape.”  
The driver nodded, climbing into his truck. He backed up, sliding into place right in front of the unfortunate car.   
Andrey sat farther down the curb, watching in slight interest, until she realized something.  
She couldn't steal a car out in the open, but she definitely could steal a car from somewhere else. There had to be a local junk yard.   
She circled around the truck, stopping in front of the driver.  
"Hey, can you point me to an auto shop?" She asked, making the driver look up.  
"I'm pretty sure there's an auto shop down the street, but the guy who owns it is barely there anymore."  
"Well I'll see if he's still working. Thanks!" She replied, limping away. 

It took a while, but Andrey finally found the Auto Shop. There was a junk yard attached to it, much to her pleasure.  
Andrey let out a small woop, circling around the yard to find a place out of sight to hoist herself in.   
Her arms strained under the pressure of pulling herself up, the adrenaline from the attack gone long ago. She grunted as she flung herself onto the top of the fence, lowering herself to hang off of it so the jump wasn’t too straining on her calf.   
She looked around the junk yard for any signs of life and, not finding any, sighed with satisfaction. She wandered the yard, looking at several cars and trying to weigh their usefulness.   
After probably a good twenty minutes of searching, Andrey landed on her best bet yet. Around the front of the yard, closest to the auto shop, was a light blue 1974 AMC Javelin - one of the best cruising cars ever.   
Andrey circled the car like a lioness to prey, regarding it with admiration.   
The owner of the auto shop obviously took good care of it, and fixed it up with some obvious new enhancements.   
Andrey lifted the hood, finding two obviously new V8 engines that gleamed in the moonlight.   
She closed the hood and looked around, surveying the area.   
With a smirk of satisfaction, she opened the door, easing herself inside. She sighed, resting her hands on the steering wheel and indulging in the moment.   
Suddenly, a low growl sounded from her right.   
Andrey's eyes flew open and she peered out of the wind shield to find a large german shepard, eyeing her uneasily.   
Andrey quickly surveyed her options and shot out of the car, limping quickly towards one of the higher trucks.   
The shepard followed, barking.   
Andrey launched herself up onto the roof of one of the cars, looking back to check out the dog's advances. The Shepard circled the car, barking furiously.   
She looked around in panic, trying to come up with a solution. Realizing she had no other choice, she jumped from the car she was on to another, hissing when pain shot through her leg.   
She heard the pounding of the dog's footsteps following her movements, and she skidded to a stop when she realized the line of cars ended.   
Shaking with panic, she jumped down, attempting to roll but failing. She hit the ground in a tangled mess, trying to gather herself up.   
She looked up and saw the dog bounding towards her, which made her scramble up and start sprinting towards the fence, hoping to the gods that the dog didn't catch her.   
She glanced back, and, with a gasp of terror, realized the dog was only a foot behind her.  
In panic, Andrey hoped that there was water pipes below them and focused on controlling her new-found powers.   
A pipe exploded behind her, and she heard a yelp as the dog was hit.  
Andrey had no time to celebrate once it was on her trail again, and she focused on the water as she exploded more and more pipes under the dog's feet.   
Once she reached the fence, she turned around, hoping for some leeway. The dog obviously hadn't heard of mercy, because it advanced on her, growling.   
Andrey tried to reach out to the water once again, but to no avail. With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.  
To her surprise, a whistle sounded out from the yard.   
Andrey cautiously opened one eye to find the dog sitting down obediently, staring at her with contempt.   
Andrey opened her eyes fully, glaring down at the dog.   
Someone cleared their throat, and Andrey looked up in surprise to find a guy standing next to the dog, looking her over in amusement.  
Andrey looked him over, her breath catching in her throat.  
The guy was probably a little older than her, maybe around seventeen. He was tall, towering over Andrey who was already 5’6”.   
He was half African-American, with beautiful pale blue eyes. He had a mixture of delicate and hard features, with sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw.  
Basically, he was gorgeous.   
Andrey held in an infatuated sigh and composed herself, regarding him with suspicion.   
"Who are you?" She asked, standing her ground.  
"It's funny, I was about to ask you the same question. Considering that you're on my property." He replied, amusement still flashing in his eyes.  
"Maybe you should get better security." Andrey replied, and he chuckled.  
"Well it seems to me that Daisy was doing a pretty good job, sense you were backed into a corner preparing to be dog food."  
Anger flashed inside Andrey, followed with embarrassment. "I should call animal control on Daisy."   
"And alert the authorities that you were sneaking around a junk yard late at night? Doesn't seem like the best plan."  
Andrey's cheeks burned with embarrassment. He was right, she had no right to call him or his dog out on attacking her. Andrey groaned inwardly at her stupidity.  
"Why are you here anyway?" He asked, and Andrey regarded him with suspicion.  
"Why is that any of your business?" Andrey retorted.  
"Well, considering you're trespassing on my property, I think I have the right to know why." He eyed her with suspicion, but also amusement.  
Andrey sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. I needed a car."  
"Stealing, were we? And you wanted to call the authorities?" He asked mockingly.   
Andrey groaned.   
"Okay, yes. Stupid idea. But look. Don't call the police. They'll just send me back."  
His eyebrows furrowed, and Andrey immediately regretted what she just said.   
"Take you back where?" He asked curiously.   
Good job, Andrey. She thought. Way to blow our cover.  
Andrey sighed, realizing she had no choice but to explain her dilemmas to a stranger.  
"Foster care." She finally replied, and the guy's eyebrows shot up in response.   
After a few moments of silence, the guy sighed.   
"Don't worry, I won't call them."  
Andrey looked up at him in surprise. "You won't?"   
The guy raked his hand through his hair - which was short and dark - and sighed.   
"No, I won't." He looked as though he was debating whether or not to tell Andrey something.   
He sighed once more. "I was in the system too, so I understand."  
Andrey's eyes widened in surprise. "You were a foster kid too?"   
He nodded, and extended his hand. "Name's Sam."  
Andrey took his hand a moment later.   
"Andrey." Sam smiled warmly, which Andrey returned.  
"So Andrey. How'd you make those pipes explode? Daughter of Poseidon I'm guessing?" Andrey looked at him incredulously.   
He chuckled in response. "Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me."  
Andrey furrowed her eyes in puzzlement, glancing at the surrounding cars.   
Suddenly, it clicked.  
"You're a son of Hephaestus." She said, and Sam nodded.  
"Well, a son of Vulcan."  
Andrey rolled her eyes. "Same thing."  
Sam chuckled.   
His gaze fell to Andrey’s leg, which was lifted off the ground, hanging lamely.   
His brows furrowed.  
“You okay?”  
Andrey looked down, sighing. “Monster found me. Shredded my leg pretty bad.”  
Sam winced, regarding Andrey in sympathy.  
“Come on inside, I’ll fix it up.”  
Andrey smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

Andrey hissed as Sam helped her lower herself onto the couch.   
He instructed her to lay down on her back so he could clean her wound.  
He brought out a bright red first aid kit, along with long scissors from the workshop.   
“Hold up, you’re not going to cut my jeans up, are you?” She said, turning over in shock.   
Sam rolled his eyes, pulling her back into position. “You can buy new ones. Plus, they’re ripped anyway.”  
“Buy with what money? I’m not Britney Spears.” She retorted, making Sam roll his eyes again.  
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out. Now hold still.”  
Andrey huffed as she settled back down, listening to Sam as he ripped her jeans apart.  
As soon as that was done, he placed a towel underneath her calf.   
“What’s that for?” She asked incredulously, and he just sighed.  
“Will you stop asking questions?” He replied, fed up with her.  
She scoffed. “Fine, continue.”  
Sam did, placing a bunch of first aid items on the couch until he was satisfied with what he had.   
She heard him get up, and she watched him walk into the kitchen, coming out a second later with a bottle of whiskey.  
“Here, take a swig of this.”  
Andrey regarded him suspiciously as she did, coughing as the whiskey burned her throat.  
Sam nodded, leaving her with the bottle as he went back to her leg.   
Then, out of no where, he poured alcohol on the wound, making Andrey scream in surprise and pain.  
“What the fuck?” She yelled.  
“Sorry, it’s usually better when you don’t expect it.”  
Andrey glared at him. “Not cool.”  
“It’s about to get a lot worse. I’m going to have to stitch the cuts, they’re way too deep.”  
Andrey looked at him in terror.   
She swallowed drily, taking two long swigs of whiskey.  
“Let’s do this.” Andrey said with a nod, and Sam brought the needle to her skin, beginning the most painful five minutes Andrey had ever experienced.  
After Sam had successfully stitched up her leg, Andrey relaxed on his couch. She talked to Sam about her encounter with the monster today, and her adventures on the road.  
Eventually, Andrey’s stomach rumbled loudly, making Sam laugh.  
"You wanna get some food? I was eating dinner when you broke in."  
Andrey laughed at his casual attitude towards her trespassing.   
She shrugged. "Sure."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"So, Andrey. How did a daughter of Poseidon manage to run away from the system?" Sam asked, taking a bite out of his cheeseburger.   
Andrey shrugged, munching on a french fry.   
"Not much to it. I found about my power when I was twelve, and decided it was time to high tail it out of the family I was living with. So I exploded one of the toilets, grabbed my shit and ran."   
Sam chuckled, eyeing her with amusement. "And you've been on the run ever since."  
"And I've been on the run ever since." She agreed, stuffing another french fry in her mouth.   
"But, y'know, it's not as easy as it seems. Not only am I running from the system, but also from all sorts of beasties."  
Sam laughed. "Run into a lot of beasties in the last three years?"   
"Lots. Gets really old.”  
Sam laughed uneasily. “You fight them off by yourself?"   
"Yeah, of course. I've been doing this for a while now."   
Sam regarded Andrey with admiration. "That's pretty impressive for a fifteen year-old."  
Andrey rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, cause you're so experienced yourself, being a whole two years older than me."  
Sam smirked. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're more of a badass than I am."  
She snorted. "I don't know, you're pretty hardcore with the auto shop and stuff."  
Sam chuckled. "Hardcore?"  
"Oh yeah. Totally hardcore."  
He smiled. ”I do more than fix cars."  
Andrey's curiosity spiked.   
"Yeah? Like what?"   
Sam looked at her with a sparkle in his eye.   
"Wait here."  
Andrey watched him leave the room, and after a few moments, he emerged once more with a long sword in his hands.   
Andrey let out a surprised gasp, gazing admiringly at the sword.  
“It’s amazing." She said, and Sam smiled.   
"Here, hold it."   
"You're not serious." She replied, looking up at him in glee.   
He smirked, nodding.  
Andrey reached out and carefully took the sword from Sam, turning it over in amazement.   
It was celestial bronze, and it gleamed in the light. There were carvings along the blade, of vines and intricately detailed flowers.   
"It's beautiful." She cooed, and Sam laughed.  
"I have more." He said, and Andrey stood up in excitement.   
She hissed, leaning on the wall. Sam reached out, attempting to steady her. Andrey shooed his hand away, smiling at him.  
"Can I see them?" She asked, and Sam smirked.   
"Yeah, come on, I'll show you."  
Sam led her through the shop, and, once they got to the room that he made weapons, Andrey couldn't believe her eyes.  
There was about a hundred different types of weapons strewn everywhere, from swords to axes. Andrey sat at the work bench as Sam handed her almost every one, examining the detail on each weapon.   
Sam watched her in amusement as she reached out for each one excitedly.   
He chuckled here and there, but mostly stayed silent, watching her.   
Finally, after a while, Andrey stopped, noticing tension coming from Sam. She put down the axe she was holding and regarded him.  
"What's wrong?" She asked, brows furrowed.  
Sam sighed. "You're going to have to leave, aren't you?"  
Reality hit her. Andrey hadn't been even thinking about her dilemma, and realized she probably should.   
But the look on Sam's face, and the fact that she hadn't been in the company of a person this long, clouded her judgement.   
Andrey sighed heavily, looking down.   
Sam moved towards her, and Andrey looked up.   
“Do you want to stay?" Sam asked, and Andrey's heart seemed to lift with hope.   
And, despite conscience telling her not to, she accepted.   
"Yeah, yeah I do.”   
Sam smiled brightly at her, to which she returned.   
And, in that moment, Andrey had never felt more at home.

And, for almost a year, Andrey stayed with Sam.   
She decided to stay and help him with the auto shop.   
All the while, Andrey's feelings towards Sam grew. She kept them to herself, but she couldn't stand being away from him.   
She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was in love with him.   
Which only made his constant brotherly attitude hurt even more.   
It'd recently been her sixteenth birthday and Sam had given her her dagger, Romphaea. She was extremely grateful, and had secretly been admiring it every night before she went to sleep.  
It was truly beautiful, with mixed tones of celestial bronze and imperial gold. It grew in size when she flicked her wrist, which was useful to say the least.  
It had a short hilt, and was built specifically for her hands and size, the balance perfect. Carved in the hilt and blade was the sea, filled with elegant ships and laughing sirens.   
She had examined every inch of it, picturing Sam thinking of what she would like.  
But, unfortunately, the gift came with a lot of brotherly jokes. Ones that she had seriously had enough of.  
And one day, as they sat there sharpening swords, Andrey's temper finally snapped.   
"So, do you think you'd be able to convince a liquor dealer to give you some beer?" Sam asked mockingly.   
Andrey rolled her eyes. "Considering I don't even look close to twenty-one, I think not."  
Sam chuckled. "You could just use your amazing charm."   
"Oh yeah, because I'm sure an older cashier would just love a teenage girl trying to flirt alcohol out of him. I don't know what'd be worse, being rejected or having it actually work."  
Sam laughed. "Well you know I'd pummel him if he'd accepted."  
And there it was. That brotherly love.  
"Yeah? You'd take on a bigger, older guy just for little ol' me?"  
Sam regarded her seriously.   
"Of course I would. I would never let some guy take advantage of you."  
"Oh yeah, because I obviously can't protect myself." She snapped, making Sam look up from his work.  
"What?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.  
Andrey dropped her work, eyeing him seriously.  
"I can protect myself, Sam. I've been alone my whole life. Not only have I had to deal with monsters, but cruel people as well. I can handle things on my own. I don't need some big brother protecting me."  
Sam nodded slowly, but his eyes flared with anger. "So that's how you see it. Like some kind of brotherly protection."  
Andrey stood up, throwing her hands up in frustration.   
"What else would it be? Your constant need to keep me safe. Your jokes about my age. You treating me like I'm some kind of little girl that you need to defend. Well, news flash, I'm not. I've dealt with shit that most people couldn't even imagine. So stop treating me like I'm your little sister."  
Sam stood up, paralleling her. "So that's what you think this is? You think just because I'm protective of you that I see you as my little sister? Jesus, Andrey. You're more ignorant than I thought."  
Anger raged inside of her. "Ignorant? What the hell are you talking about?"   
Sam stepped towards her. "We've known each other for almost a year but you still haven't figured out my feelings for you?"  
Confusion flooded Andrey. She furrowed her brows, searching his face. “Your feelings for me?"  
Sam rolled his eyes, striding over to Andrey and kissing her.  
The kiss was gentle, his lips soft on hers.   
Andrey let out a surprised gasp.   
Sam pulled away, searching her eyes.   
Andrey's heart sang, her brain racing with possibilities.  
"Sorry, I shouldn't have-" Sam started.  
Andrey cut him off, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss.   
After a moment of surprise, Sam's right hand came up to cup her face, the other sliding down to her waist to draw her closer.   
The kiss was gentle at first, but deepened with every passing moment, growing more urgent and hungry. Sam buried his right hand in her hair, tugging and sliding his hands through it as if he never wanted to let go.   
Sam's mouth broke from hers only to kiss the hollow of her neck, which made her let out a surprised gasp mixed with a moan.   
Sam chuckled, going up to kiss her mouth once again.   
Heat coursed through Andrey with every touch.  
After a while, Sam broke off the kiss.   
He kissed her forehead and smiled at her, his face glowing. Andrey smiled back, her goofy smile matching his. Sam guided her over to the couch, sitting down. Andrey curled around him, kissing him softly.   
He wrapped an arm around her, drawing her closer so he could kiss her.   
They laid there for a long time, contentedly watching TV and drifting off.   
Andrey woke up a while later to darkness, and curled up closer to Sam. She heard the intake of breath, and smiled as Sam turned his body to her.   
He planted a kiss on her forehead, and she sighed deeply.  
She felt his mouth against her ear as he whispered softly, "I love you."  
She kissed him once more. "I love you too."   
And, as she drifted off to sleep once more, she knew it was true.

Andrey awoke to gasping.  
Her fighter instinct kicked in and she sat up abruptly, looking around.   
Suddenly, she realized that the gasps were coming from beside her.   
Sam.   
She blindly groped for the light, switching it on. With her hand still on the switch, she looked down to find Sam gasping beside her, his left hand frozen above his heart.   
"Sam!" She screamed, holding his face. "Sam!"  
She scrambled from the couch, dialling 991.   
A voice in her head said not to call the authorities, but she had no other choice.  
"991, what's your emergency?" The operator asked.  
"My boyfriend! He's having a heart attack! Please, send someone, anyone-"  
"An ambulance is on it's way."  
Andrey nodded, sobbing.   
She dropped the phone, scrambling over to the couch.   
She picked up Sam's head, sitting down and setting it on her lap.   
"Sam, hey. Sam, stay with me." She searched his face, and he looked at her in panic.   
"You'll be okay, don't worry. You'll be okay. You have to be okay."   
A tear streaked her face, and she held back a sob, her voice cracking in despair.   
"You're okay."  
Sam mumbled something, but Andrey couldn't catch it.   
"What?" She asked, a sob escaping her.   
His right hand reached up, wiping a tear from her face.  
"I love you." He said, and let out another gasp of pain.   
She held his face, making him look at her. "Sam, Sam no. Sam, you have to stay with me."   
He let out a few gasps of air, as if he was hyperventilating.   
"Sam!" Andrey screamed.   
"Sam please! Just stay with me a little longer. Please!" She pleaded.  
His hand that was cupping her face fell.   
His laboured breathing stopped, and his pale blue eyes went blank.   
Andrey's hands shook as she held his face, searching his eyes for any recognition. Disbelief and horror filled her, along with heart wrenching pain.  
"No.” She whispered, sobs escaping her.   
She fell to him, sobbing into his chest.  
"No, please. Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me here alone.” She said between sobs, clenching his shirt in her fists.   
She looked up at him, and his blank eyes. An inhuman noise escaped her, and she cried out, rocking back on her heels. She clenched her stomach, sobbing in anger and sorrow.   
Daisy nuzzled her, whimpering. She held onto the dog, sobbing into its fur.   
Suddenly, she realized she had called the authorities. Something they had agreed to never do, and something that would most definitely end her up in foster care.   
Panic overrode her sorrow, and she wiped away her tears. She quickly gathered up her things, stuffing everything she could into her backpack and two duffel bags.  
She grabbed several of Sam's shirts along with his leather jacket, most of Sam’s weapons, Romphaea, her previous possessions and several days worth of food.   
With a sob, she took Sam's wallet, guilt filling her even though he would've told her to take it. She took Daisy's leash and hooked it to her collar, leading her out to the Javelin.  
She packed everything in the car, along with Daisy. She quickly assessed everything, and quickly ran into the shop, grabbing whatever was left.   
Finally, Andrey knelt down by Sam, sorrow filling her once again.   
She sobbed, her fingers lightly grazing his face.   
She closed his eyes and kissed him on the forehead before she left, mirroring what he had done only a few hours prior.   
"I love you." She whispered, and, at that, she left without another word.   
She opened the gate, jumped into the car and drove off, a flash of blue and red lights appearing in her rear view mirror.   
A sob escaped her, and she put a hand over her mouth.   
Daisy whimpered, and Andrey petted her with her free hand.  
"I know, Daisy. I know."

Andrey didn't stop driving until she got to New Mexico.   
She stopped over at a gas station on the highway, buying a map to figure out her game plan. Nobody really knew her in Arizona except Sam, so she was safe from the authorities following her.   
They would have on record that Sam had a girlfriend who had dialled 911, however.  
But that was a pretty far reach from figuring out who she was, so she was safe for now.   
Actually, the more pressing matter was what she was going to do with Daisy - specifically how Andrey was going to feed her.   
Andrey would have to stop by a pet store, which would mean going into a town, which could possibly leave witnesses.   
But there wasn't really any other choice, so she headed toward the car, determined.   
Andrey stopped abruptly when she saw a woman leaning on the hood of the car, a sly smile on her face.   
The woman was devastatingly beautiful. Her features changed erratically, as if she was representing all the beautiful women in the world.   
Andrey's breath caught, her heart racing.   
She'd seen this woman once before, when Andrey had killed one of her daughters.   
As Andrey approached, Aphrodite's smile grew wider.  
"Ah, Andromeda. Nice to see you again."   
Andrey eyed her suspiciously. "Likewise."  
"How's Sammy? Oh, wait. His heart gave out didn't it? Almost as if it turned against him."  
Anger flared inside of Andrey, and she gritted her teeth. "Excuse me?"  
"Oh, didn't you know? It was all me. A little sweet revenge for the death of my daughter."  
Anger turned into a monstrous rage, and Andrey practically growled. "You killed him?"  
"Oh no, dear. You killed him."   
Andrey leaped at Aphrodite, grabbing Romphaea. Only, when Andrey landed, Aphrodite wasn't there.   
Andrey turned around sharply, coming face to face with the goddess.   
Andrey plunged the dagger into Aphrodite's thigh, and Aphrodite let out a screech.  
"Little bitch!" Aphrodite screamed, pulling out the dagger and flinging it to the side.   
She advanced on Andrey, and caught Andrey by the throat, choking her.  
"I won't kill you. Oh no, I will make you live without him. I will make you relive his death every day and then you will know the feeling of pain." Aphrodite hissed, and let Andrey go.   
Andrey fell to the ground, gasping, as Aphrodite disappeared.   
Andrey glared at the space where the goddess once stood, and vowed that one day, she'd kill her.   
One day she would plunge Romphaea into Aphrodite's chest, and watch the life leave her eyes as Andrey had watched the life leave Sam's.   
And then, and only then, would Andrey be free.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Andrey woke up with a yelp, cold sweat trickling down her back.   
Her heart ached as she remembered her dream of Sam, a single tear sliding down her face as she realized she’d never see him again.  
But the most painful thing was remembering the hurt in Leo’s eyes as she ran away, his voice calling her.  
She laid back down on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest.   
Her only solace was that one day she’d rid the world of Aphrodite - and her curse.


	6. CHAPTER VI - LEO

To say Leo was hurt was an understatement.  
The night seemed to be going perfectly. He borrowed a suit jacket from the Aphrodite cabin and got hyped up on coffee from the nymphs at the dining pavilion.   
And, right when the party was in full swing, she walked in.  
Andrey wore in a flowing, lilac dress, similar to the dresses in ancient Greece. Her dark curls were tied up with a golden clip, displaying her freckled face.  
He thought she was beautiful.  
He smirked as she looked around in disdain, leaning against a pillar.   
He sneaked around the crowd, grabbing her hand and swinging her into a dance. Her body tensed until she looked up at his face, rolling her eyes.  
"Why is it always you?" She asked teasingly, and he shrugged.  
"You looked like you were going to murder someone, so I decided to lighten up your festivities."   
She chuckled. "My festivities were fine without you're dancing."   
"Oh, I see how it is. Insult the party, sure. But insult my dancing? You are going to pay dearly for that."   
She rolled her eyes, laughing. "Oh please. I could beat you in my sleep."   
He smirked, watching as she glared suspiciously at him.  
"You? Beat me? But you're so tiny!" He exclaimed, lifting her up in the air by the waist. She let out a small yell, glaring at him.   
Once she was back down on the ground, she smacked his shoulder, which only made him laugh harder.  
"Are you swatting at me? Are you a kitten?"   
Andrey scoffed, glaring.   
"I will swat you like a fly if you don't stop it!" She exclaimed, punching his arm.   
He rolled his eyes and led her over to the edge of the pavilion. "Now that we've had our fill of dancing, you want to take a walk?"   
She looked at him suspiciously. "This isn't a prank, is it? Are you going to throw flaming plants at me?"   
He pulled a shocked face. "How dare you! I am Leo Valdez, a gentleman. I would never throw flaming anything at you."  
Andrey scoffed.  
"But actually. Let's take a walk." He urged, and Andrey rolled her eyes.  
“Sure.” She agreed, and happiness flowed through him.  
He didn’t know what it was about her, but every time he looked at her, his heart tugged at him. He got all sweaty, his hands shaking nervously.   
He tried to hide it them in his pockets, but he was pretty sure she knew.  
They walked into the field, casually talking and strolling. They ended up at a marble bench.   
Leo watched Andrey as she looked up to the sky, and he allowed his gaze to follow. The sun was beginning to set, and as they sat down, the field seemed almost on fire.   
Leo smiled, and she smiled back immediately. Her face glowed, a halo of light in her hair.  
He’d never wanted to be this close to someone before — he barely knew Andrey, but he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her.  
Leo came back into focus to find Andrey looking at him, a gleam in her eye that he couldn’t quite describe.   
He knew that they had literal death hanging over their heads, but if Annabeth and Percy could handle it together, why couldn’t they?  
Andrey’s eyes drifted off behind him, and he smiled warmly.  
"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, and she shrugged.  
"Just thinking about what it would be like to be normal."  
He made a slight shrug. "Being born a demigod kind of ruined that for us, eh?"  
She chuckled. "Just a little bit."  
Curiosity sparked within him. "What do you think we'd be doing if we were normal?”  
He was only half hoping her answer would be kissing.  
"I don't know. At the mall?"   
He smiled, thinking for a second. “What about the cinema?”   
Her smile broadened. "Yeah, watching one of those crappy actions movies that you secretly have to love."  
"Sounds amazing." He said, imagining them getting salty popcorn and laughing at bad acting.  
She sighed. "Alas. We can't be normal."  
"But we can do normal things." He said, trying to gauge her feelings.  
Andrey looked at him curiously. They stared at each other for a moment before she looked down, causing a strand of hair to fall in front of her face.  
Leo stared, taking in her soft curls and sharp features. The sun was just about to set, giving the whole world a soft orange glow.  
Andrey looked up, blushing when she saw him staring.  
Leo smiled dreamily, happiness flowing through him like warm syrup.  
He softly tucked the strand behind her ear. He felt his stomach nervously shrink, but he ignored it.  
His hand cupped her cheek. He looked up at her, waiting for approval.  
"Can I maybe kiss you?" He asked, and, in response, her eyes grew wide.   
She stuttered, and he tensed, waiting for her to reject him.   
She nodded slightly, and his whole body was shaking with anticipation.  
Leo leaned in slowly, making sure she was comfortable.  
Their lips touched, and his whole world was lit on fire. He didn’t know if he had ever felt like this; but he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Andrey kissing him.  
He reached up to cup the sides of her face. She brought her hands up, paralleling him as she entwined them in his hair.  
His ears burned with a blush, but he tried to ignore it.   
She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue to venture into her mouth.   
They sat there, locked in this embrace, exploring each other's mouths like they were born to do it.   
Leo tried to stop himself, not get to caught up in her warmth, but he couldn’t. His hand that had run down her body to her waist, drawing her closer.   
He buried his other hand in her hair, twirling her curls in his fingers.  
She mirrored him, one of her hands in his hair and the other flung around his neck, drawing him tightly to her body.   
Not that he was complaining.   
And then, suddenly, her body tensed. He was immediately brought back to reality, alarms going off in his head. He didn’t want to push her.   
But something else was wrong.  
Her eyes were wide, and she backed away from his body.   
Confusion and hurt enveloped his thoughts, even though he tried hard to fight it.  
"Andrey, what's wrong?" He asked, looking into her eyes for an explanation.  
"I'm sorry, I just-" She started, her voice cracking. "I can't."   
And then she ran.   
Leo sat there for a moment, motionless. Did that actually just happen?  
He looked in the direction that she had ran, watching her dress flow in the wind.  
And, suddenly, it felt like his brain was slotted back into his skull. He shouted her name, testing his voice. It shook, but it cut through the air sharply.   
He stood, unsure. He started to jog, and then picked up his pace. He called her name once again, worry transparent in his voice.   
He kept doing this, and he finally saw her, a streak of purple. She stopped when she heard his voice, and he thought, just for a moment, that she might let him catch up to her. Talk to her.   
But she picked up a moment later, and his heart fell.   
He skidded to a stop when he saw her enter her cabin. He cared for her, but he didn’t want to push her. She’d tell him.   
He hoped.

/ 

Leo got to his cabin, his body exhausted.   
Worry still clouded his brain, weighing out the rejection he felt. It was less important to him; Andrey was obviously hurting, he knows that.   
Not taking it personally wasn’t easy, but he tried.  
He sighed, entering the cabin to the soft glow of LED lights and TV screens. He looked up and saw Nyssa, who was regarding him.  
“You okay, Leo? How was the party?”  
Leo shrugged. “It was alright I guess. Not much to tell.”  
Nyssa looked at him suspiciously, but let it slide.   
“Alright. Goodnight, then.”  
“Night.” Leo sighed, ripping off his clothes and getting into bed.  
Concern for Andrey constricted his chest, but he eventually fell asleep.

/ 

Leo woke up to the whole world shaking.   
“What the fuck?” He said, wiping the sleep from his eyes.  
Nyssa flew into his vision, panicked.  
“The Romans are here.”


End file.
